Sunday 29 December 2013

January Calendar

Another month has rushed past and it's time to make our January calendar.  If you want to know more about the idea behind the monthly calendar please look on Kate Crane's blog as the whole thing is her idea.

I sprayed the pages with 3 colours of blue Dylusions inks although by the time I wiped them to the edges they all amalgamated into one blue.  I spayed White Linen through the Tim Holtz Shatter Stencil.  I also sprayed water through Dyan's Let It Snow stencil before stamping snowflames down the sides.

I had previously made a stamp from one of Tim Holtz Along the Edge dies and used it to stamp across the top and bottom edges.

I stamped some circles which have days of the week in them - who knew I owned such a thing!!!??!! Added some more snowflakes and the month.


I thne decorated the page with a silver pen.


I look forward to seeing what you do for your January calendar.  Don't forget to share your calendar using the linky below.


Friday 27 December 2013

Aren't you clever!



“AREN’T YOU CLEVER??”

That’s what you’ll hear NEXT Christmas when people see the cute little gift ornaments you’ll have made in our January recycling art project.

Joanna Grant will bring us a fun and easy project using recycled Christmas cards, so save all yours from this holiday season and tune in on January 11th 2014 for all the details.    

Don’t have a lot of Christmas cards?  Ask your friends and family to save theirs for you.  Any size, any colors will do.

See you then!

Wednesday 25 December 2013

Happy Christmas


Wishing you a happy and peaceful Christmas.
Thank  you for joining me on this 12 month art journey.

Wednesday 11 December 2013

Creative Date Challenge

This month instead of the usual creative date, technique challenge and art challenge I have combined them all into one Creative Date Challenge.

And this is it!

Take a photo of something to represent each letter of the word Christmas.  Preferably go out of the house to take the photos.
I is for icicles

Here are some suggestions 
C: candle, cake, carols,
H: holly,
R: robin, red, rudolph
I: ice, icicles
S: string, santa, singers
T: tinsel
M:  mince pies, mistletoe
A:  angel

And here is a website I found to help you: Christmas Vocabulary

And if that isn't enough for you then try this Christmas Photo list that Judy shared on Facebook.

I hope you have fun with this.  I look forward to seeing what you come up with.  Do share with us using the linky below.

Monday 9 December 2013

Quarterly Zine

Today is the start of a new Zine.   For instructions on how to fold and cut the paper to make your Zine go here.

As I am going to make all my quarterly zines into one book at the end, it was important that I cut the cartridge paper for this quarter exactly the same size as the last one.

I sprayed the paper with 2 colours of blue spray inks.

I spritzed water through a snowflake stencil.

Then I sprayed Dylusions White Linen through the same stencil, but in different places.

I folded the paper to make the zine and started on the pages for December.

I sprayed green ink through the Tim Holtz holly stencil and added red stickles for the berries.  It would have been better to wait until the end to add the stickles as I couldn't work on the page until they had dried!

I stamped the word december on a scrap of paper and stuck it on.  I printed out the quote and cut it up and stuck it down.

I look forward to seeing your December Zine.  Don't forget to share it with us using the linky below.

Thursday 5 December 2013

Photo Challenge

In March I introduced this monthly challenge.  Each month we take a photograph on the same day, at the same time, of the same place.  How are you getting on with this challenge?

You choose a day or date and a place to suit you.  It could be taken from your front door, your back door, a particular place on your journey to work or on the school run.  It could be where you walk the dog.  Wherever it is, it needs to be a place you are at or near regularly.

Each month we take a photo and over the year we will build up a picture of the changes in the seasons.   If you haven't already, I suggest you have a folder on your hard drive where you keep these photos so you can find them at the end of our 12 months together.

If you upload them to the Facebook group please add the photo to your album or if you are new please make an album with your name and a suitable title.  Thanks.

There's also a Flickr group if you don't have a blog or a Facebook account.

I've added a linky for you to add your photo or blog.



Tuesday 3 December 2013

The Flower of the Month



Thank you to Susan for yet again providing us with an interesting article about our flower of the month.

Holly

With holly and ivy
So green and so gay,
We deck up our houses
As fresh as the day.
With bays and rosemary, and laurel complete,
And everyone now
Is a king in conceit.
- Unknown

The English Holly, Ilex aquifolium, and the American Holly, Ilex opaca, are common symbols of Christmas time. Images of this plant decorate greeting cards, wrapping papers, dishes, glasses, vases and linens which we display during the holiday season. “Deck the halls with boughs of holly” describes the ancient tradition of incorporating the holly, with its green leaves and bright red berries, (traditional colors of Christmas) into wreaths, garlands and centerpieces. It is said that branches of holly were brought into the home during Roman times to celebrate the festival of Saturnalia, which took place during the winter solstice. Many beliefs and superstitions advocated bringing branches of holly inside to protect the home against malevolent elves and fairies or to enable benevolent fairies to live in the home among humans during the cold weather. Planted outside the home or barn, holly was said to protect against lightening strikes. Modern science confirms that the spines of the holly leaves are able to conduct electricity to the ground, which protects the area surrounding them.

The homeowner has reason to plant hollies near the home and around the property for their great ornamental value as well. The English Holly, with its glossy dark green leaves, is highly ornamental year round and the yellow, orange or red berries on female plants during the autumn and winter months provide cheer when it is sorely needed. Birds eat the fruit, which adds another attractive dimension. The English Holly has over 400 cultivars so there is a variety which will fit your location and taste. Leaves are usually a dark green but plants can be purchased which have blue-green, white variegated or yellow variegated foliage. Stems can be green or purple. Berries are various shades of red, orange or yellow, depending on the variety. Size can range from a foot to fifty feet in height.

Hollies of all species need acid soil that is well drained and rich in organic matter. They do best in partial shade but will tolerate full sun in cooler climates. Protect them from wind which tends to desiccate the leaves, especially during the winter months, causing them to turn brown. Most hollies are dioecious which means they bear male and female flowers on different plants. If you want your hollies to bear fruit, be sure to have a male holly planted within a few hundred feet of it. One male holly plant can produce enough pollen to fertilize up to six female plants.

Holly berries, though eaten by birds, are toxic to humans. Bees make a reddish colored honey from the flowers, which is described as mild, sweet and buttery in flavor. The wood of holly is extremely hard and ivory in color. It is used for inlaid marquetry, and takes stain beautifully. It has been used to make walking sticks, riding whips, tool, broom and brush handles, chess pieces and piano keys.

This spring, plant a holly somewhere on your property. The ornamental qualities will delight you and you will have branches to bring inside each December.

Challenge: 
Take photos of the holly adorned Christmas decorations which are part of your particular “decking the halls” tradition. If you have an heirloom piece, please tell us something about it.

Merry Christmas to all of you!

Link your challenge results using the Linky below.

Monday 2 December 2013

The month of December

December in the UK can be either quite miserable with very short dark days or bright sunny and cold days but getting dark early.

Find out more about December here.

I love this site that lists all the bizarre celebrations for each month.  Here is December's list.  What is a noodle ring?  National Noodle Ring Day.    Or what about National Bicarbonate of Soda Day?  I think we should all join in with Look on the bright side day!

This year Advent started on December 1st.  Find out more here.

Our Flower of the Month is Holly.

There are many Christmas related songs but I really love this one.


A poem for December
The Journey of the Magi by T S Eliot

A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The was deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter."
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires gong out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty, and charging high prices.:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.

Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we lead all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I have seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.



Here are some extra items on Pinterest: Advent    Christmas     Christmas Tags

And just for fun: an origami Christmas Tree

Here's your December checklist.

Art Challenge
Make a page inspired by the information or inspiration you have found here.  Don't forget to share it with us.


Sunday 1 December 2013

Introduction to the Season

Winter is upon us in the northern hemisphere and we only have 3 months left of 12 Months in View.

There are so many Winter songs so I picked one that I like!


And especially for February (the masks and costumes are from the Venice Carnival)


Find out more about Winter from Wikipedia 

Colour Scheme
For this season we have two colour schemes.  For December we have red, green and gold and for January and February we have blue, white and silver.

A winter theme
The theme for the next 3 months is Christmas & New Beginnings.

A winter poem
Winter by Walter de la Mare
Clouded with snow
The cold winds blow,
And shrill on leafless bough
The robin with its burning breast
Alone sings now.

The rayless sun,
Day's journey done,
Sheds its last ebbing light
On fields in leagues of beauty spread
Unearthly white.

Thick draws the dark,
And spark by spark,
The frost-fires kindle, and soon
Over that sea of frozen foam
Floats the white moon.


Quotes and Bible Verses
You can download pdfs from here:  Quotes     Bible Verses

Challenge
Make a winter related introductory page.

Don't forget to add your page using the linky.