First and last

The kids have gone back to school and I plan to make the most of the next 4 weeks before they begin ANOTHER 2 week break!! I'm sure I didn't have this many holidays when I was a child, oh dear, I'm sounding more and more like my Mum! Anyway, the house is quiet and I have a few moments to catch up on my own things. Thank you all so much for your lovely comments and suggestions about the cards. Each card is 7x5 inches based on the size of Art Money http://www.art-money.org/ I wanted to give myself a bit of space to work on however if I were to do it again I'd probably use ATC size and maybe even restrict the colour. The finished display is full of surprises but doesn't really go together as a single piece, although I did achieve my goal of weekly art which probably wouldn't have happened if I'd set myself too many rules.

This is the first card from 2008, the words are from an article by DJ Pettitt on fabric fusing (Cloth Paper Scissors 07/06) At the beginning of last year a friend and I were (and still are) following a Blog http://www.willows95988.typepad.com/ written by Corey, an American, married to a Frenchman living in rural France. As foreigners ourselves here in Switzerland her words often struck home but it was her photos that sent us dizzy! Pictures of baguettes, eggs and onions that looked so magical when in fact they were fairly ordinary things. We often asked each other 'how does she do it?' we see stuff like that everyday and it never looks like those pics! (check out the fries in the coffee cup 4 Jan, swoon...) Well, it's the start of 2009 and we're still discussing it!! somehow the quote seemed quite apt, perhaps it's all just a question of perception afterall.

This is the last card of 2008, quite a different feel to it.

I started the year finishing everything with a layer of PVA white glue but soon discovered there are much better products out there. I read so much about Golden Glaze but couldn't find any here so have settled with a yellow ochre tinted medium, does the trick!