More Ice Age.......

Well I could be referring to the weather but I actually went back to the exhibition at the British Museum.  It was worth going back as I could take a closer look at these often tiny objects. I find that you are often overwhelmed at the first visit, trying to take in everything at once. We decided to let the initial surge for the Pompeii exhibition die down before visiting and we went instead to the Foundling Museum for the Faith, Hope and Charity exhibition. So touching, these little objects tell such sad stories.



We were in need of a little light relief and this came first from a pavement artist who had a picture of the sun, "drawn from memory". and then when we walked in the Covent Garden we found eggs everywhere. These are a few of my favourites.

They are there to raise awareness of Action for Children .  Happy Easter everyone.

The Big Road Trip, Delaware...

this week. I have never been there so no personal memories.   The first thing that came to mind was the Perry Como song, which I have had on the brain ever since. Who remembers that one?
Then of course there is Washington Crossing the Delaware.  

There is a fascinating piece here as to how artistic license was given free reign with this subject.
Delaware is known as the First State and is famous for it's peaches. Peach blossom is the state flower.
The last piece of knowledge I added to my rag bag mind was the American Bald Eagle can be found in the upper Delaware River valley.

 I am afraid I haven't had any artistic inspiration on this visit but I have enjoyed looking around.

Just found....

I have just downloaded this app to my i-pad today.   The History of Ireland in 100 Objects. A gift from the Goverment of Ireland.  You can see all the objects here . This exquisite model boat is my favourite so far.
 
it can be seen at the National Museum of Archaeology in Dublin. Stetching from pre-history to the present day there is some fascinating stuff. (No breach of copyright intended, image will be removed if it offends.)

New Jersey.....

TheBig Road Tripof the USA is in New Jersey this week.I have learned where it was located and visiting some of the places like The Jersey Shore which was so devastated in the hurricane last year. I didn't know that the Meadowlands, home of  both The New York Giants and the New York Jets, was in New Jersey.



My first thought was The Jersey Boys.  I saw the show , a tribute to the music of Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons in London and it has been a top favourite on my i-pod ever since. From the show I knew that Frankie had been born in New Jersey.

In my wanderings I found that the State Flower of New Jersey was the Violet which is one of my favourite flowers to using the technique from here I made this and gave it a digital frame.

Thanks to Marit for this great idea and to Danielle of Layers of Creativity for guiding us round. Delaware next, no guide so far so I hope someone comes forward or we will get hopelessly lost.

P is for

 this weeks letter in the Craft Barn Alpha Challenge. While unsuccessfully trying to find Patricia in the dictionary I came across "Patina - the green encrustation testifying to the age of a bronze coin or work of art,"  With my love of all things distressed this seemed to fit the bill.

  The base is a gelli print (or course) which I over painted with metal paint. I tried to add the proper patina solution over it but it didn't work very well so I used some old verdigris embossing powder instead.
 I am not too happy with the way this turned out and I may, at sometime, try again but I don't want to get behind so this will have to do for now.

Ice Age.......

no not the weather (is winter ever going to end?) but the exhibition at the British Museum. I have been looking forward to it for some time and I was not disappointed.   I loved the animal carvings and was interested how many examples of female carvings there were.   Many objects were so tiny it is a wonder that they have been found. Photography was not allowed, as you would expect, so I have made my own cave painting.

Gelli background, my attempt at the bison and a digital frame.  There are pictures of some of the objects here
The thing that really caught me was a little disc (it would fit in your palm)  with a hole in the middle.  One side was carved with a cow and on the other a calf.  Apparently the heads are so precisely positioned that if the disc is spun on a string the cald appears to "grow up".  So they had moving images 22,000 years ago.  I couldn't take in anymore after I had this in my mind so I will have to go back to do the latter end of the objects..

Busy...

It's getting busy round here, some of it is boring like dental appointments and car serivicing etc. but the rest of it is all good.  Jude has started another serssions of the diaries,this one is called What If Diaries and even includes the 101 classes which show the very basics.  You can join at any time and it is yours forever, it is so much a part of my life now.  
Over at Marit's Paper World the Big Road Trip is "visiting" New Jersey. I have an inspiration underway.
The prompt letter in the Craft Barn Alphabet Challenge is the letter P. First thought was Patricia but suprisingly I'm not in the dictionary so we will see.
I am sending a little gift to Margaret as a thanks for her kindness, I needed a little card so I took ispiration from a card made by my great niece.

 and produced 4 little cards from one A4 sheet of gelli print.  They really mimic the fold of a match book.

One on it's way to you tomorrow Margaret.

The letter M.....

The Craft Barn Alphabet Challenge continues, my but a fortnight goes so quickly. This time it was the letter M but only letters between MA and ME(inclusive) could be used. This is the nice twist to this challenge to stop you working ahead or just using something you have on hand.  Being left handed I started at the end and was tempted by mezzotint for a moment, mainly because it is a nice word to say  but I decided that was a bit beyond my capabilities and then I came to "melange" so...here it is.

The dictionary I am using (which is quite old) defined "melange" as "a confused mixture", which sounded a good fit for me. I used a gelli background and then plundered my stash of Sunday supplements for images to collage, I did toy with the idea of only using images starting with M but couldn't find any, it was interesting to find how repetitive these magazines can be. The word is made up from a stencil I bought in the V&A shop children's section. Tag cut with my Sizzix and decorated with my tiny stamps.

RAK...

a random act of kindness, an unexpected gift.  On Saturday I received this hank of yarn from Margaret in Canada.

Because of the great mix of colours my mind is leaning towards a bit of scrumbling.  Another friend wants to learn to crochet so I might be able to combine the two.   Thank you Margaret.

I am delighted to have been included in Marit's Big Road Trip New York visit. There are some interesting links.  New Jersey next, why not come with us?