Take a Word Challenge.. Song..

Can I sleep in your arms tonight, Mister?

It's so cold lying here all alone.

And I need someone's arms to hold me.....

Till I'm strong enough to make it on my own.

One of the old Country songs I used to sing, in another lifetime, it seems.

 Sung to the tune of Red River Vally.

I chose this song for the Take a Word Challenge at Three Muses.

Thank you for looking. xx

Dezinaworld..Mono men..

Here are a couple of collages I've made for June at

Dezinaworld.

Today she is showing her wonderful Mono Men

design sheet. There's such a lot you can do with them.

SPA Things with wings..

Here is my postcard for SPA's challenge this week.

Things with Wings.

It has a slight Steampunk flavour.

Hope you enjoy.

Thanks for looking.

Hugs June xx

SoArtful Challenge..

SILENT STARS

SoArtful's challenge today was inspired by the image of Gloria Swanson they gave, veiled with lace.

I have found three silent movie stars, their unsmiling faces and huge eyes draw you in.

Everything Googled, even the red rose boutonniere,

Update on Freddie...they kept him in hospital yesterday and he'll be there at least a week. He has to keep his foot raised and he's on an intravenous antibiotic drip.

They did pass the phone to him this morning so I could speak with him. He sounds cheerful, mainly I think because they are actually doing something for him.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Love and Hugs

June xxx

I'm having a rest from puppies today. Well I might just go and have a peep! Sally is home today with Peter so I'd love to see what he thinks of them.

Freddie was off to hospital before 8.30am. for his fornightly check of his feet. He can hardly walk at all now for the pain in the ball of his foot and there's nothing there to see! I do wish they will do something.....He's sitting all day long and I'm afraid he's losing the use of his legs.

Upwards and Onwards. I've kept myself busy doing Challenges. Digitalmania this week are asking us to do something in the style of Magritte. I'm not good at Surrealism. My mind doesn't work that way but I've had a go. Right out of my comfort zone but I think it does you good sometimes to think about something else that really stretches you. Takes your mind off your own pain and worries for a time.
Here are a couple I've done. The other two are on my Flickr site if you'd like to have a peek.

Poor Sybil..

Sybil was overjoyed that her dear friend had set up a meeting

with a beau for her that very evening. She saw him waiting

by the faint glow of the lamp.

But as she approached, she could see he was nothing but

a cardboard cut-out, propped up with an old ladder.

She was filled with disappointment and sorrow that her friend

could do this to her. She'd be a laughing stock.

poor Sybil.

Puppies..

Well here's yours truly yesterday afternoon

being licked to death!

Sally came home with two puppies, not the one!

What a surprise...not!

So meet Miss Libby...blue grey

and

Miss Maddie...black.

Both have tiny touches of white on their noses and feet.

So you can imagine I had a lovely afternoon.

The littlies, Tillie and Barclay, didn't really want to know

but they'll soon get used to each other.

John has made them a wonderful pen in the kitchen

so they are separated at night.

Dezinaworld Images.

Here are a couple of Collages I've done for June

at Dezinaworld from a new set, Shabby Blue.

And this one I did a while ago with two of her backgrounds

blended and of course one of her ladies.

Three Muses..I've been Zettied!

Here is my challenge for the Three Muses this week.

They suggested we should 'Zettify' (Is that a word?)

someone famous.

Well here is Leonardo doing his Elvis imitation,

showing off to his Muse, Mona.

Ripples..

The stone  landed in the water with a loud plop!

He watched his reflection, distorting and changing.

Reflecting his life....

(Original sketch by Jinksy above.)

I like to be in the park.

I like to play Hide and Seek.

If Nannie wasn't watching

I'd climb a tree and

Fly with the butterflies.

Beautiful picture of the girl by Margaret Bednar, slightly altrered.

These are my collages for Jinksy's In Tandem Challenge this week.

If you'd like to visit Jinksy here is her link.

In the style of.......

This collage was made for a Challenge on Digitalmania.

We had to make our pictures in the style of another artist,

this time Maggie Taylor.

* * * * *

I really don't know what's happened to our English summer. We're almost at the end of July and it's a real 'nothing' day again. Dead, white sky and it's cold!

I've just been on my scooter down to the surgery for prescriptions and that's all. Oh! I did call on my friend Jaqui coming back for a quick coffee and a chat!

Yesterday my darling son came over and we went out to lunch at the Manor. Such a joy having him all to myself for a couple of hours. It doesn't happen often but we always have plenty to talk about.

Now tomorrow, I think I have to go up to dear daughter's for an hour or two to sit with her little Chihuahuas. They are leaving at 5am. to go across the country to fetch her new puppy.

She's having a little blue grey whippet, she is to be called Libby and I am so looking forward to having a cuddle, nuzzling into her fur and smelling that special 'puppy breath'!

I hope to have some pictures soon to show you!

So I've been sitting here this morning and made this collage.

The Flowering Tree.

I was quite pleased how it turned out and hope you like it too.

I also want to say a Big Big Thank you, to all my Followers,

old and new. I do appreciate you taking the time to visit my blog,

look at my pictures and adding comments.

I love reading them and try to visit you as often as I can.

You are such dear friends.

Love and Hugs

June xxxxx

Collage Obsession..Honeysuckle

Collage Obsession gave us this pink colour called Honeysuckle

to use in our collage.

It was such a strong colour I only used a torn scrap at the side.

Everything came from Idgie's Nostalgic Whimsy.

Thank you for looking.xx

Take a Word Challenge..Sepia..

I love this pic of Mother and Child and the words say it all.

Fleur sat alone in her lovely room. The calmness of her surroundings with its antique French Toile-de-Jouy always soothed her spirit, but inside, her heart felt as numb as if she'd been locked in a tower.

Did she imagine it? Or could she really hear her sweet Henri crying........?

'Mama,  I'm here. Can you see me?     I love you Mama.....'

A bit of fun..

Put your mitts up, Ducky!

A group on Flickr suggested making pictures of two animals

 made into one. Nothing human.

I thought I'd have a go when I saw the pic of the bear cubs..

These images are all Googled.

So we end Sunday with a smile....hopefully!

Our Lady..

This is the 'fragments' I showed you a few days ago.

This time I've used it as a background, overlaid with a

picture of Our Lady.

'

'She' is just the head of a religious statue.

Reminds me a little bit of

Our Lady at Walsingham.

SoArtful Challenge..Byron..

At SoArtful this week,  Jeanette had posted a portrait of Byron.

I used that photo in my collage and added the first verse of

one of his poems, supposedly written to Miss Cameron

with whom he'd just broken up.

Oh the pitfalls and heartache of luurve........!

So quickly....

Accidents happen so quickly. Skyela shows no fear at her age.

She was jumping on her brother's bed and fell off,

breaking her wrist yesterday.

I've just been up to see them and she's trotting around

as though nothing has happened.

Bless her little heart.

Challenges..

Just to show you I do sometimes do a different style!

These two collages were made for a Digitalmania Challenge,

to make something in the style of...L.K.Peralla.

The Bubble Fairy

She looked up and saw a Fairy sitting in the bubble.

I'm always in the mood for Once upon a time, fairies, beautiful princesses, magical castles and towers.

Surely there must be a handsome prince somewhere on a  flying white steed to carry her off.

Ah dreams and fantasy and magical worlds.

It's not my fault!     It's my inner child!

Is yours coming out to play?

Butterfly Princess

Once upon a time, in a far and distant land, lived a beautiful princess

in a magic castle. They called her the Butterfly Princess

because she was always surrounded by a cloud of them.

They kissed her cheeks and played in her hair

and she was always happy.

With many thanks to Jinksy for the beautiful fairyland background.....

For all little poodle lovers everywhere!

He/she looks so cute, I thought he'd like to be in the picture!

I've been to Chapel this morning and it's a dull, cloudy old day.

It almost looks as though summer's over but I guess we'll have a burst of sunshine again sometime soon.

I'm feeling a bit stressed somehow. I guess I should take my own advice and 'Slow down and smell the Roses.'

Take a bit of time to enjoy....slow down and pay attention to all the beautiful things around me.

I think we're sometimes so busy watching out for things that are just ahead of us, we don't

take time to enjoy where we are.

So........at the moment I'm looking at butterflies chasing each other around my

Buddleia outside this window. Now that's a great start!

Love and Hugs

June xxx

Theme Thursday Challenge..Romance..

                                    The Challenge on Theme Thursday this week is Romance.

I found this picture on Google and liked it very much and I wondered what to do with it. It was black and white and looked like an old woodcut of an early Russian couple. So I coloured it with my mouse and gave it a bit of a background, and yes, it was meant to be a bit off centre! So this is my entry for the
Romance Challenge. Thanks for looking.xx

Good Offer..

Arts Cow has a good offer on at the moment for their books

if anyone is interested.

I have just made mine and sent in my order.

This is the front cover.

20 pages so lots of room for pictures.

The Cream Silk Dress..

The Lady in the Cream Silk Dress

I found this gorgeous portrait and couldn't resist that dress.

I added the roses and of course the rest. She is waiting for a letter from her love.

Three Muses Challenge..Oriental..

 Here are my collages for the Three Muses Challenge this week.

The theme is Oriental, a lovely subject.

The bottom image is from Dezinaworld and the top one was Googled.

You can't help but make a peaceful scene from the Orient.

Thank you so much for viewing and maybe leaving a comment. xx

For Me...

Look what the postman just brought me.

A postcard from Captain Billizetti.

All the way from the States!

I see he still loves being underwater.

Thank you Bill! I shall post yours tomorrow.xx

Dezinaworld..

Here are two collages I've designed for June at Dezinaworld

The top one, is one of her gorgeous ladies. She was in black

and white and for a change I coloured her with my mouse

in Photoshop Elements. I thought she came out quite nice.

Sometimes I even surprise myself! LOL!

The one below is from her Siblings sheet.

She has so many gorgeous sheets, sometimes I hardly

know what to choose. They are all beautiful.

Click the link and pop over to see the wonderful work

her other designers have done.

Birthday Fun..

Here are a few snaps from yesterday, all taken with my camera.

I love the one in the centre of Ashton.

Skyela..

This is my lovely great granddaughter..Skyela.

The photograph was taken last week at Playschool.

I've placed her in a room by Joe's Sistah and added

some birds from my stash.

School photos never used to look like this.

I look like little orphan Annie in most of mine!

Yesterday afternoon we gathered at my grandson Richard's house

to celebrate Ashton's 5th. Birthday, to have a cuppa and a piece

 of delicious birthday cake.I haven't looked at the photos

on my camera yet.

Take a Word..Flight..

A lovely challenge from Take a Word this week. Flight.

The Magic carpet picture I made last year but I thought you

might like to see it again.

I have made lots of collages with the same quote below, which

I love. This is a new one.

Thanks for looking.xx

The figures in these two collages were taken from

portraits painted by the Russian artist

Ivan Makarov.

I love the rich colour and detail of his work.

And I loved that babe's sweet face and dimples.

The Russian princess in the second picture, if you enlarge it you

can see the wondrous details in her dress.

The fabulous background is by Joe's Sistah, with thanks.

I hope you like them.

Sunday Postcard Art..Summer..

My Postcard for the Sunday Postcard Art Challenge.

The theme this week is Summer so here is a selction of

postcards rolled into one.

Thank you for looking.xx

Saturday Experiments..

It's a wet, dull and cold Saturday so I've been doing a little

experimenting this morning.

The top picture, my Butterfly girl I made a couple of days ago.

She was something a little different for me.

The collage below I called Fragments and I've been playing with

it this morning, using lots and lots of layers, so a

real experiment,

I like to try different styles and methods of working.

I'm not sure if I like my Fragments but I've put it here for you

to see. What do you think?

The novelist Robert Louis Stevenson wrote many well loved and enduring tales, among them 'Kidnapped' and 'Treasure Island'. He also bequeathed us a number of interesting quotes about people and his life in general. Among them is this little gem of wisdom..

'A happy man or woman is a better thing to find than a five pound note. He or she is a radiant focus of goodwill and their entrance into a room is as though another candle had been lighted.'

Aren't we fortunate if we have encountered just such a person along the way?

Love and every blessing to you.

June xxxx

A New Day..

I love this quote by Emerson.
So forget your troubles,  begin serenely
and LET'S MAKE SOME ART!

From a kit by I Murphy

 So I started my day by making these two collages. The sun is shining and it's a bright new day.
This beautiful portrait of Siblings is from Dezinaworld. Aren't they the sweetest pair? Such a smile!
                                                             I hope you all have a happy day.
                                                                            Hugs
                                                                                June xx