L...

The letter L this time on the Craft Barn Alphabet Challenge but with a twist.  A window had to be included.  I had a look at Lattice but kept coming back to Landscape.  The landscape I wanted to use was a photograph of Wastwater in the Lake District which I took in May.. I also wanted to suggest the whitewashed  houses you see in the Lakeland, so this is a sort of inside out view of the Lake.

the windows were packing inside a child's game. I did think of putting lattice in them but it obscured the photograph.  The wall is painted with PaperArtsy Grunge paste and Fresco Nougat and here it is with tag.

J.......

gave me trouble, I didn't have the connection with just one word, as in previous weeks, instead my mind hopped from one to another so in the end my mind was a JUMBLE..........see what I did there?

 

I made the background using my new Seth Apter stencil,  I made a jumping jack which looks remarkably like Jagger. My happiest addition to my collection of useless knowledge is that this little gadget for cutting pastry was called a jagger.

Here is page with tag.

Not many letters to go now in the Craft Barn Alphabet challenge, where did this year go?  Time to start working on the cover.

I am loving the costumes on "Strictly" this year, for once they seem to be being kind to the "older" women.

Looking forward to Ally Pally on Saturday, hoping that the change from our usual Thursday will result in less traffic but I think this was the wrong time to re-visit crazy quilting.....there will be too many temptations.

 Looking forward to catching up with Lynda Monk and to seeing Sophie of What Delilah Did  who is one of my new found relations.

Look....

what arrived today,only a week after I ordered them from Stencil Girl 

Stencils by the very talented  Seth Apter.  I am hoping that they will soon be on sale in the UK so that I can buy the third one in the set  but I couldn't wait to buy these.  I think I  feel a gelli session coming on? Rust colours of course Seth! I love the text and all the different textures.

Another reason for celebration is the return of Australian Masterchef to my TV screen.  Far superior to the English version, no "significant looks" between the judges for a start, much more inventive challenges and on the whole a great hour of  relaxation. another favourite "The Newsroom" has also returned so with these and the start of the NFL season and the imminent beginning of Strictly my place on the settee is booked, with sewing accompaniment of course.

Also looking forward to the Stamping Show at Ally Pally this weekend.  

G.........

is for grunge (probably my favourite G word) buy not in my old dictionary, I was panicking a bit and then I found Gears, well I have gear die cuts and gear stamps so....a gelli print background to get me started, what else ?(and yes Carol I just might be addicted).  I took my stamps and built up a background with a bit of  grunge paste and Archival inks. I cut my gears, painted them and then treated each one with three colours of Treasure Gold.  Then the fun started as I cut tiny pieces of sticky foam to make them stand up from the page, doesn't time fly when you're having fun? I had chosen "Gearing" as I liked the definition " and whoops...... I have just realised that I printed out the wrong definition(gears instead of gearing), excuse me whilst I go back to the drawing board for a moment.
As I was saying I liked the definition "a train of toothed wheels for transmitting motion" so I tried to make them fit into each other.  Not sure it would create any motion but I like the illusion.

and here it is with corrected tag

Tenby 2.....

It is s good job we don't have to pay to have photographs developed these days or I would be bankrupt. These are just some of my favourites from our short stay in Tenby.  
                                                                           Lighthouse

 and  Lobster pot

                                                                          

Baskets

and towers of flowers.

Rocks

Ruins

and Reflections

Merchants House

Staircase

Seaweed

and Sunsets

Brave bathers

and the best book shop in the world........possibly.

Z.....

...the end, no,  not quite yet, thanks to the deliciously random nature of the Craft Barn Challenge.  A limited choice but decised for me when I saw "Zodiac" and remembered that I had some zodiac symbol stencils from goodness knows where. So.three gelli prints, one for the page and the other to make the circle and another for the symbols. I mixed PaperArtsy Grunge Paste with a little paint for the symbols and cut them with the Sizzix. I made little circles of the colours associated with each sign (don't shout at me if they are wrong because there are so many variations, depends where you look.) The word plate I made by putting a piece of gelli print through the printer.

Here it is with the definition tag.

Oh I do like.....

to be beside the seaside, especially when I have a view like this where you can watch the comings and goings of the tides and people.

We wanted a short break and we fortunate to find this apartment was free for the days we wanted.It is in Tenby in Wales.  I had never been to Wales before so after a lovely welcome we set out to explore. Oh my.
 There are three sandy beaches,  this is North Beach

 and this is Castle Beach which leads to  South Beach which stretches for miles

 The town has the remains of the fortifying walls and some wonderful houses, Lord Nelson and Emma Hamilton visited and Roald Dahl spent his childhood Easter holidays in the house next to ours.

The Pembrokshire coast is truly spectacular and we had some breathtaking walks to  St Govan's Head  where we counted the steps down and true to legend counted a different number on the way back up.

and to the Green Bridge of Wales and the Stack Rocks where you can see the layers of the earth's crust

Another visit was to Caldey Island . The island is owned by an order of Cistercian monks and is only accessible by boat.This is the way I like my sea when I am on it.

We arrived at this beach

and walked to the cliffs on the other side of the island

 where we met some of the inhabitants.

The quiet on the island was lovely, it is so rare these days.
Back in the harbour, our little home is marked with a cross and the building on the left is the Roald Dahl house.

 As you can see were blessed with perfect weather, a very unusual occurrence for us. Sunsets and a bookshop to come.

August.....

is the month my young friend comes to stay and we go walking.  It was a bit delayed this year thanks to the fact that in July I missed the bottom step and ricked my ankle. I was worried that I would spoil her holiday by not being able to do long stints but it turned out I managed and in fact it seemed to make my ankle better.  Still not perfect but everything takes longer these days.
One of our first walks was to Hothfield Heathlands described as one of the few remaining fragments of open heath.  Land where, traditionally, cattle were grazed. We saw......
New trees growing from a fallen tree,

the longest horns I have every seen

and a grey horse in grass that looked like mist.

On other days we saw a sheep on a wall, in Sevenoaks

and in London a blue cockerel.

We found dream cottages in  Boughton under Blean and Dargate

 orchards,

 pub flowers

and a magnificent oak tree.

and what better way to end a day than with a sunset. London horizon from my bedroom window

 and fabulous every changing clouds.  I won't bore you with the other 20 odd shots I took.