Monday morning.....

......and I have a stack of ironing to do.  No not the boring kind this.....

deep in the depth of my freezer I found a packet of Summer Fruits, now the summer for this particular pack passed long ago, I was just going to out them when I had a little "I wonder?". I thought I may be able to make some sort of pink paper (not something I really feel a lack of) but no nature and chemistry produced purple.

I put the berries  in the pan, added water and boiled them for about 15 minutes. I squashed the berries to extract as much colour as possible and then I strained them and put the juice in a foil baking tray. I then added a stack of assorted papers, one sheet at a time making sure each one was fully immersed. When I was nearly at the top I spread some of the pulp in between and that produced the pink   I left them overnight.
Not a nice day today so no hope of drying them with solar power so I popped them one sheet at a time into a low oven which is why they are a bit crinkly.

The variation of colour is interesting, the darkest ones are tracing paper and the lightest ones were only left for a few minutes this morning when I had taken out all the others.

What fun, now to do the kind of ironing I don't mind.

The Winter Journal........

.... finished I think, only every time I look at it I add a little more.  I made it as a journal with plenty of space for writing and I have tried to use my own photographs and "artwork"

This is the cover,

it actually came about by accident.  The letters and tree are made out of plain old kids foam sheets The cover is scrim adhered with Golden Matte medium which I am discovering makes a wonderful glue. (Late to the table I think).
This is the first page and I may still add another pocket on the cover

 The card in the pocket is made from a happy swoosh and the first stamp I ever bought on my first trip to America many years ago.

 

A few of my favourite pages.

The ponies  are a photograph I was lucky to snap and the leaves are a digital collage/

Distress Oxides on the tag (did I mention how much I love them) and the grasses are printed onto tracing paper.

Another serendipity page, a gessoed book page which I had used to make some die cuts  and then used to try out some paints.  Turned into a tuck spot.

  

End of the first signature. One of my photos and an old encaustic wax experiment plus a bit of paint play.

Just a few more.

Loved making this one, though it has taken a long time.   Now for the Book of Trees, As I mentioned I have started the backgrounds but I am finding it difficult to move on, I selected some of my photographs (who knew just how many photos of trees I have) but I want it to be something more than pictures stuck on a page so I will take it slowly and hope. In the garden yesterday.

Right.........

........where was I?  I have just spent a lovely long weekend with my sister-in-law.

We took a trip to the ICHF supposed Stitching, Sewing and Hobbycraft show at Excel.  Never again. The "free" Christmas show consisted of a woman demonstrating a £400 exercise board and some very dubious foods. The rest was mediocre to say the least.

Monday we went up to town to "see the lights", on the whole the Christmas windows lacked imagination. These were probably the best at Ralph Lauren in New Bond Street.

Am I wrong or were the Christmas shop windows designed to delight children(eg ME) as well as sell.
We had a little adventure when we were invited into Southeby's to look at Winston Churchill's last painting and four Lowries which are about to go on sale.  I explained to the charming doorman that I didn't have Southerby's kind of money but he explained that these exhibitions are open to all  Who knew?

My next journal is nearing completion, pictures soon and I have started my "Book of Trees" workshop with Roxanne Evans Stout here

So far I have only had time to prepare my pages.

 but I am looking forward to filling them.  I love trees (the only thing I can draw) and this time of year makes them even more appealing with the colours and the falling leaves.