THREE MUSES 96 - STEAMPUNKERIE

This week Marie has chosen the very interesting theme of STEAMPUNKERIE for our inspiration ... a theme I love to play with.

Above, is Henry in his brand new invention, the steampunk horse drawn carriage.  You might notice he doesn't need to steer the carriage as it is entirely clockwork and in consequence Henry is able to pretend to read to impress his neighbours.

Below, is Albert, who has been tinkering in a completely different way and has invented the first steam assisted clockwork musical flying machine.  Such genius!

Albert is an ATC for a swap with Miss Peppa Pig as is the decorated envelope in which the ATC was sent.

Credit goes to FinecraftedDesigns and Marta Van Eck for their current Steampunk themed kits.

Thank you Marie for a great theme.

TAKE A WORD 22 - BLOOM

This week Marie has chosen the word BLOOM for our inspiration and that reminded me of the new turquoise roses I noticed in our local park.  They are very special,  not only are they a beautiful shade of turquoise but they also grow to a height of 10 feet and the children love to climb on them and play games ........ or they did until they were confronted by the giant beetle that has made its home in one of the blooms!

Credit to Marta Van Eck for the background whilst the Roses is a sculpture in New York!

Thank you for looking.

SUNDAY POSTCARD - WHITE

The theme this week at Sunday Postcard is WHITE and I love playing with white on white so I made some time to have a little go and here's what I did.

Credit to Minette for these lovely white elements.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES 95 - LAND OF ODD

Bev has chosen the LAND OF ODD as her theme for this week and what great fun I had in my very own Land of Odd where everything is perfectly normal to me!

Credit to Kubivet, Efie, Marta Van Eck and the Deviant Scraps collaboration freebie Colour Splash.

Thanks Bev for a great theme.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD 21 - ARCHITECTURE

It is week 21 at Take a Word and Marie has chosen ARCHITECTURE as our word for inspiration this week.  That got me thinking about the little wooden house at the end of my road where the meteorologist lady lives.   I often see her with her hand stuck out of the window and think what an ingenious way that is to forecast rain.

Credit goes to the designers at Deviant Scraps for their freebie - Colour Splash - available via Somerset Digital Studio magazine.

Thank you for looking.

GONE FISHING

It's my turn to host at  the Three Muses this week and I have chosen FISH as my theme.

Here is my interpretation.


Credit to Honey Designs, Efie and the very talented ladies at the Water LO Project, whilst the 'hook' was in the Public Domain.


Thanks for looking.

TAKE A WORD 20 - GREEN

Another week and another word and this week Marie has chosen GREEN for our inspiration.  That got me thinking about the new couple who have moved in next door.   A spot of stickybeaking over the hedge informs me he likes to tinker with old gadgets and valves, whilst I have to report the lady of the house smokes!

Another great word Marie.

Credit to Finecrafted Designs whilst the font is Fontdinerdotcom.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES 93 - SPRING

 

Marie has chosen SPRING for this week's theme at the Three Muses.  

Now to anyone else I know that might conjure up visions of sunshine, lush green grass and Spring flowers, but not me.  Nope, all I could think of were SPRINGS!  So here is a selection of springs all mixed up with steampunkery!!!!

Sometimes I despair of my sanity.  Tee hee!

I couldn't choose between the two collages so I present both interpretations.

Credit to Cali Designs, Finecrafted Designs whilst the backgrounds in each are my own.

Great choice of theme Marie.

Thank you for looking and commenting.

TAKE A WORD 19 - BIRDLIFE

Another week and another word, and this week Marie has chosen BIRDLIFE for her 19th Take a Word challenge, and that got me thinking about the birdlife in my garden!!!

Great word for inspiration Marie.

Credit to Irene Alexeeva, Nancy at Studio B, and  Efie, with a few bits and pieces and the background being my own.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES 92 - ANCESTORS

Bev has chosen Ancestors as her theme for this week at the Three Muses and that  reminded me of my three great aunts (on my Father's side) who lived in a rather large  house in the country.  They often spent their time in London society meeting eligible young bachelors at elegant balls and dinner parties.  They also hosted many country house weekends where they spent time with their guests shooting and hunting, or if the weather was inclement,  playing card games or games of hide and seek in the many rooms in the vast house.   Eliza and Ellen eventually settled down and married rich young husbands, but the third great aunt (whose name is never mentioned in polite society) married a different kind of man entirely and it is rumoured  she ran off and joined the circus!

Credit goes to Scrapidea, CAJoline and NumbBumm, whilst the aunts and the sculpture are in the public domain and the background is my own.

Thanks Bev for a great theme.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD 18 - EXOTIC

This week Marie has chosen EXOTIC as our word for inspiration and that got me thinking about my three little sisters who love nothing better than a Girlie Night In.  They love to bathe in exotically perfumed water in the moonlight, pamper their faces with exotic concoctions and paint their nails in all kinds of exotic colours before they settle down in front of the TV to sip hot chocolate and eat Turkish Delight and watch a DVD.    Ahhhhhh!

Thank you for another good word Marie.

Credit to Cali Designs.  The sisters are in the public domain.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES 91 - TIME

It's my turn to host at the Three Muses this week and I chose TIME as my theme, but would you believe it, my Muse wouldn't speak to me, just went silent and left me to my own devices!  That fickle Muse.  Anyway eventually I came up with this little piece.  Phew!

Credit to Efie for the bubble but the rest of the images are in the Public Domain, other than the backgrounds which are my own work.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD - DOOR

This week Marie has chosen DOOR as her word for our inspiration and this is where my Muse took me!!!

Thank you Marie.

The Marcel and Escher images are in the Public Domain, whilst the background is one I made myself.

Thank you for looking.

SUNDAY POSTCARD ART - FACES

It's FACES at Sunday Postcard Art this week and  as I thought this famous lady has a very handsome face I thought I would share it with you.

All the images used are in the public domain.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES 90 - HOT, HOT, HOT

Marie,  has chosen HOT for her theme this week at the Three Muses and asked us to interpret that into hot colours such as oranges, yellows and reds. 

So here is my piece of silliness with hot colours,  hot sunshine,  flames and steam all contributing to my interpretation of a hot and dry Oz dreamscape.

Credit goes to Kubivet for the sun, CaliDesigns for the flowers,  MartaVanEck for the steampunkery : (steam pipe, looking glass, chair, umbrella, horse and shell), NumbBumm for the red kite, and CAJoline for the sofa.  The backgrounds are made from my own photographs, including my irreverent use of the red carpeted aisle at Selby Abbey here in Yorkshire.

Thank you for looking.

ROSES ROUND THE DOOR

It's week 16 of Marie's Take a Word challenge and this week she has chosen ROMANCE as her word for our inspiration.  Now, like Marie, I'm a bit of a Bah Humbug when it comes to Valentines and Romance but then I remembered about Giovanni and Isabella, who like Romeo and Juliet were in love but due to  family feuds were not allowed to meet.  Just look at how they gaze into each other's eyes,  warms your heart doesn't it?  Anyway, unlike Romeo and Juliet, this pair of lovers were not so wishy washy and much more disobedient and instead of meeting a sad end, they met one night at midnight, escaped over the city walls, built a cottage in the forest with roses round the door and lived happily ever after.  Awwww!

Credits : well apart from a little help from Dover everything else is my own work.  Thank goodness for layers, blends and styles in Photoshop I say!

Thank you for looking.

ATC SWAP - HELLO SAILOR!

Each month Jayne (Peppa Pig) and I have a little ATC swap and this month it was Jayne's turn to choose the theme.  She chose BIRDS and this is what I made for her.

 And here is the envelope I decorated to mail my card.

Credits for the ATC are on its reverse.  For the envelope I also used a background by Nicola Young.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES 89 - QUOTATIONS

Bev is our host at the Three Muses this week and she has asked us to create a piece of art that includes a quotation.  I liked the quotation : Fashion is something that goes in one year and out the other.   Oh so true!   I thought these very fashionable ladies of the 1920s illustrated the  quote  to a T.

Credit to Clearly Vintage for the ladies, whilst the backgrounds are courtesy of the very talented PlayingWithBrushes.  The font is Mayfield.

Thank you so much for looking.

EDGAR

 

Marie has chosen BLACKBIRD as our word for this week at Take a Word.  That got me thinking about Edgar, a blackbird I know who lives by the sea, but who each year likes to spend a week or two in the country to kick up his heels and recharge his batteries.    This is Edgar taking his morning constitutional through the meadow on his way to see his lady friend Rapunzel who lives in a tower and has very long hair!

Credit to Crowabout Studio B for this lovely freebie, whilst the shoes and Edgar are free to use.

Great inspirational word as always Marie.

Thanks for looking.

MONA AND THE JELLY BABIES

Created for the WPC Week 230

Credit to Monkeywing for the original image and to Efie for the embellishments, whilst Mona, who once again had escaped from the Louvre was snapped by the Paperazzi.  The background is one of my own.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES 88 - BLACK AND WHITE

It's my turn to host at the Three Muses this week and I have chosen the theme of BLACK and WHITE and this is what my Muse had me create.  She wanted there to be strong black and white elements but allowed me to use colour also.  She is so generous!

Credit goes to Clix at Stock Xchange  for the mushrooms, and Efie for the clock, cat, hands, diver, waterfall, boat and eye. 

The backgrounds were from photos I took during our last New Zealand trip : the sandscape is from Taupo Bay, whilst the 'sky' is a shot of a handmade glass brick from the world famous Hundertwasser toilet at Kawakawa. 

Thank you for looking.

VINTAGE

This week Marie (aka Ozstuff) at Take a Word has chosen the word VINTAGE for our inspiration.

These ladies are wearing the fashion of 1899, the year my maternal Grandfather was born.

The ladies look to me as though they are deep in conversation so I'm wondering if they are discussing the big invention of that year - the humble paper clip!   By their expressions they might be wondering what all the fuss is about since Alexander Graham Bell had invented the much more useful status symbol the telephone 23 years earlier!

The ladies, found in the public domain, were coloured by me.

Another great word Marie.

Thank you for looking.

FASHION FAUX PAS

Mabel adored her new blue outfit and was sure she would be the belle of the ball so imagine her surprise when she saw that she had been upstaged by Madge! 

It's my turn to host at the Three Muses this week and I chose FASHION ....... did you guess?

Credit to Sherriejd, Ruby Blossom, Crafters Corner and Efie.  The snazzy blue number is from my own stash.

Thanks for looking.

FLOWER BED

It's Week 13 of Marie's Take a Word challenge and this week she has chosen BOTANICAL as her word.

That made me think of Rose who liked to spend her time inspecting her gardens until exhausted she would drop down onto the nearest flower bed.

Another great inspirational word Marie.

Credit to Sherriejd, A Crafters Corner, CAJoline Designs,  and the background is my own.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES 86

Marie is our host this week at the Three Muses and she has asked that we use an ARTIST OF CHOICE as our theme.  

Have you ever wondered what actually happened to Venus after Botticelli allowed her to emerge from the sea?  Mmmmmmmm!

Thanks Marie, for another great theme.

Credit to A Crafter's Choice, CAJoline, Clotho98, Kubivet and Efie.

Thanks for looking.

BUTTERFLIES

Marie aka Ozstuff has chosen BUTTERFLIES for our word at Take a Word this week and  here is my interpretation.

Thanks Marie, for another inspirational word.

Credit to the late SuzieQue for the lady 'butterfly' (now in the public domain) which I think started life as a magazine cover design.   I extracted her from her original background then layered and blended her on three separate layers using the Overlay blend then I added her to my new background before finally adding some sunshine and butterflies, courtesy of NumbBumm, to complete the picture.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES - NATURE'S CREATURES

Bev's fun theme at the Muses this week is NATURE'S CREATURES so I thought I would treat you to some of the animals I have in my back garden!!!!!!!

Great theme Bev.

Credit to GWDesigns, Ruby Blossom and Efie.  The gorgeous green boots are from my own stash.

Thank you for looking.

THE DEBATING SOCIETY

My Muse has been absent for a couple of weeks but she's back and this is where she took me for this week's theme of BEAUTY at Marie's Take a Word Challenge.!

Great theme as always Marie.

Credit to Digital Sextant for the characters whilst the 'background' is one of my own.  Fonts used are : Eccentric Std, Artistamp Medium and Eight Track Program.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES 82

Marie has chosen TIDINGS OF COMFORT AND JOY for this week's theme at the Three Muses, so I thought I would take the opportunity to wish you all the compliments of the season.  So a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all my friends.

Thanks Marie for a great theme.

Credit goes to Pillowgirl, Irene Alexeeva, Anti Social Designs and Happy Scrap Designs.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD 8 - CELEBRATE

Marie (aka Ozstuff) has asked me to guest host this week for the Take A Word challenge and the word she has chosen is CELEBRATE.  At this time of the year CELEBRATE might bring the holiday season to mind but when I found this template of a man jumping for joy I knew the direction I wanted to take.  So here he is celebrating for all he is worth and in front of an audience too. 

Credit to Sailor and Lula, NumbBum, Kubivet and Efie.

Thank you for a inspirational word Marie.

Thanks all for looking.

A VERY ODD COUPLE

Have you seen this couple?  Masters of disguise and known by a number of aliases they have recently been linked to a number of petty crimes such as cupcake stealing and illicit cider making activities and the authorities are very keen to speak to them.  If you have seen this very odd couple or have any information about their whereabouts please contact Taluula and leave a message in the comments section below.

Yes, it's my turn to host at the Three Muses and I've chosen ODD COUPLE as my theme.  :D

Credit goes to Dover for Grant Wood's painting whilst the other bits and pieces are courtesy of Efie's blogspot.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD

CHILDHOOD is our word this week at Take a Word.  That got me thinking about childhood and when I do that for some reason it makes me think of deep or dark images, of the the real meaning behind nursery rhymes for instance, or being frightened by clowns may be.   I thought I might create a girl with her hands to her eyes (you know the one Judy) slowly counting to a hundred in a deep dark forest whilst her parents slip away.  Mmmmm ... a tad too dark do you think?   Yes, me too so in the end I went for a fairytale childhood : soft, dreamy and slightly out of focus.  :D

Credit goes to CAJoline, PlayingWithBrushes and Sailor and Lula.

Thanks for another great thought provoking word Marie.

Thanks for looking.

THREE MUSES 80 - FLOWERS

It's Bev's turn to host at the Three Muses and this week she has chosen FLOWERS as her theme.

A really interesting theme Bev, and this is my interpretation.

Credit to Efie for the flowers, eye and masks, everything else is from my own photographs .... in fact when I photographed this model, I had to make a hasty exit from the shop before the owner had time to eject me.    Ahh my poor long suffering family!

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD

This week's word at Take a Word is MAIL and that got me thinking about the type of mail that might have been sent out in years gone by.  And that reminded me of young Harold who once posted a letter (very much like this one) to Santa asking if he might have a pair of long trousers and a train set for Christmas.  I never did find out if his request was successful ..... but I do hope it was.

Thanks for another great word Marie.

Credit to Digital Sextant and NumbBum for the figures and the background.  I made the postage stamps out of bits of dis n dat which were Googled.

Thank you for looking.

NOVEMBER ATC AND MAIL SWAP

Jayne (aka Peppapig) and I have a little ATC swap going each month and just recently this has developed into an ATC and Mail Swap.

This was the envelope I sent to Jayne for November.

and the ATC Jayne found inside.

Credit to Granny Art, Mrs Inman, and Efie's blogspot whilst the background and alpha are from my own stash.

Thank you for looking.

THREE MUSES - WORLD OF MOVIES

This week at the Three Muses Marie has chosen WORLD OF MOVIES as her theme ..... and here is my interpretation on her theme.   For me it had to be Charlie Chaplin of course and the iconic image of Modern Times which for me says it all.  So here we are with my entry this week.

Thanks Marie for another great challenge.

Credit for images : all images are either copyright free or are my own photos.

Thank you for looking.

TAKE A WORD

It's week five of Marie's new challenge TAKE A WORD and her word for this week is HOME.

That got me thinking about our weather here in the UK :  freezing and icy with that unmistakable silence created by fat meandering snowflakes covering our world in a fresh white snowy blanket.  Here is my HOME where the girl looks out on just such a snowy landscape.

I confess to adding the hand and the balloon but the mitigating circumstances are that my Muse made me do it!

Credit to CAJoline for the girl, the drapes and the landscape, Irene Alexeeva for the banister and NumbBum for the window frame and the balloon.  The hand and floor are my own.

Thank you for looking.

SHOES

It is my turn to host at the Three Muses this week and I have chosen SHOES as my theme.

Here is my pair of dreamy ruby red slippers and I'm sure if I clicked my heels something wonderful would happen.  Wow, just look at those heels!

Credit to Efies.blogspot.com for the elements whilst the backgrounds and keyboard are from my own stash.

Thanks for looking.

TAKE A WORD

June is hosting this week's Take A Word challenge and has chosen MEN as her word. 

Now this got me thinking about Harold who has suffered from many illnesses in the medical dictionary and his poor long suffering wife Madge.  Madge in exasperation calls his latest ailment cold but Harold argues in favour of flu.    Mmmmmmm!

Any fellows out there who are thinking this is a classic case of sexism against the male of the species please accept my apologies if that is the impression I am giving ........  I only ask that you take a good long look at Harold before you condemn either Madge or myself.

I used figures from two separate pages of a book donated to the Free To Use section of Flickr by the very generous Digital Sextant.  I made this little scenario then gave it some colour in Photoshop and added a comment from Madge using the font : Persimmon.

Thanks for a great word June.

Thanks all for looking.