Craft Barn alpha Dictionary Challenge #9 A is for Arches....and me

Hey I was up early this morning with Jasper our Lab and while he was doing what dog's do... I was having a coffee and mooching around the computer and found the new Craft Barn alpha -dictionary challenge for this fortnight .... A is for.... Arches. I chose this because I recently bought Sheena Douglass' beautiful Arches stamp.

Background was made using Vintage photo, Rusty hinge, Wild honey and Barn door distress inks smudged randomly then I stamped my arches on with versafine ink... a wet brush was then used  to take out some of the colour in lines .. when blotted with kitchen towel it hopefully gives the effect of light coming in through left hand window. words, ancient, atmospheric & arches were added freehand.

I had to think a bit harder about the second page, and as I was hoovering I remembered some photos I had taken of two bridges  within 5 minutes walk of where I live. The most famous one is Thomas Telford's Menai Suspension Bridge built in 1826 it connects the island of Anglesey with mainland Wales , and the second one is Robert Stephenson's Britannia Bridge, originally when it was built in 1845 to carry trains it was just a tube supported by pillars but after a fire in 1970's they added a new roadway and  the arches to support it.

Choosing a song title for this page was difficult only one I could think of was 'Underneath the Arches' an old 1940's song , I can just vaguely remember Flanagan & Allen singing it. When I googled for other suitable songs this was the one that came out first so I went with it.

Just realised as I came to close this post A is also for ... me.... Annie, Bye xxx

Craft Barn Alpha-Dictionary Challenge #7 R is for...

Well here is another first for me, I have been trying my hand at Art Journalling for a couple of weeks and then while I was looking at the Craft Barn Blog I found this Alpha dictionary Challenge, I have 6 letters to catch up on which will take some time. As the letters are given to us randomly this fortnight's letter was R. It was a close run thing between Romance and Rainbow, Romance lost out because my old dictionary which I am using to cut up for flowers etc didn't have the definition for Romance as in Love ?? don't ask !! it is very old

So here is my Rainbow page very basic and naive but I hope to improve as I go along at least I am getting to look at more experienced  art journalists on the Craft Barn Blog

Clouds background was made using clarity stamps Cloud mask and Stormy skies Adirondack ink, flowers are Indigoblu stamps coloured with Pan pastels rest is freehand.

Some people are actually doing their artwork in an old dictionary , I have bought myself a sketchbook from The Range, I chose it as it had a white canvas cover that I could customise, so far it has just been spritzed through one of Ali's  masks with Cosmic Shimmer Mica Shimmer Mists. I'm sure this will be added to.

An interesting fact I have always hesitated about altering books as I have always been a great lover of books... and then I heard someone say that the majority of secondhand hardback books end up in landfill, so i have changed my mind and whenever I find a hardback book in a charity shop I will buy it to recycle it and give it a new lease of life.
Will I really produce 26 pages ( we have been promised some will have a twist ???) we will have  to wait and see! Well off to link up with Craft Barn Challenge now ...Bye Annie xx