Fitness fanatic

As I've mentioned before I'm never going to be Mrs Fit but now that the kids are back at school and the sun is still shining I've decided to get out and about every morning. I can't run to save myself and those superfit walkers with their sticks just plain scare me, so I've bought myself a decent pair of walking shoes and I'm off. In an attempt to keep myself inspired I've decided to keep a journal, another thing that I'm not particularly good at. I started by stamping the compass upside down which probably doesn't bode well for my walking future, but we'll see...

Fab legs belonging to a minor UK celeb, darn... actually to be honest it's the shoes, I want the shoes...

On my second walk I discovered a friend of mine deep in conversation with one of the local farmers about how to make wild berry liquor, my friend reckoned he was out for a run (yeah right!) but it did mean I didn't feel quite so bad about taking a short break to listen in! See I knew there was a reason I started walking, all I need now is a large jar, some gin and start gathering, it should be ready by Christmas!

Just to answer a couple of comments on the wax post, after a suggestion from Patty http://bitze.wordpress.com/ I tried inking the stamp with Versamark to prevent it from sticking before using it in the wax. I also chose a very simple stamp as the finer stamps just have too much detail. When the image is dry, paint it with dilute Gesso which gives it a good base for paint, glitter or other decoration afterwards.

Wax

A while ago I mentioned a link to Thealie http://lemixdethealie.blogspot.com/ such an inspiration with loads of techniques to try out. In one of her more recent tutorials she used regular candle wax which she stamped and then painted. This is my first attempt, an ATC which I worked on as soon as the kids were gone this morning, did I mention the hols have finally come to an end!

I was quite surprised at how many layers of paint the wax took. I'll try this technique again perhaps with Adrionack inks or slightly brighter Acrylics.

Ducks away

The 47th Limmatschwimmen took place yesterday under blue skies and hot sun, what an amazing day! The Limmat runs through the city of Zürich and once a year is open to swimmers for a short period. The profis lined up first to do their race then it was left to the rest of us, around 4500 this year, to jump in and float 2km down the river.

This year the sponsor provided us all with a duck to lean, float or sit on, the latter requiring considerable balance!

We deposited our clothes in a numbered bag and they were taken down river in readiness for our arrival

Nothing left but to enjoy the view, and what a view it was, a fantastic way to end the holidays, superb!

Birthday gal

I made this canvas for a friend of mine, her fav colours are browns and pinks which turned out to be a bit of a challenge being a blue and green gal myself! I'm a lot happier with this canvas than my earlier one as I used backing papers between the pics and didn't put a word on every square, the overall effect isn't quite so busy. I also experimented with lots of 'threes' as I read somewhere about the eye searching out symmetry and it really does give the finished pic a bit of balance.

Slice of chocolate cake anyone...

My friend was born in 1971 and sometime ago gave me a 'Welsh ladies' card which I promised would find it's way back to her one day, such a fab image!

On a diet

We're coasting through the last week of the holidays and even though I've been very quiet I have actually be creating. I've made a little birthday surprise for a friend of mine which I'll reveal tomorrow after she's recieved it. I've also been trying to lose my Italian tum which appeared after just a week away, a week!! I know, but I did rather pig out and given the fabbo food on offer it was a tad difficult to do otherwise. Loads of yummy bread...

Sweets, so tiny and cute how could I possibly resist...

And magical ice cream which I'll admit to buying and trying based on as many different colour combinations as possible...

And last but not least pizza, sigh...

Silent scream

This is DH's artistic interpretation of my encounter with a very large green snake that flopped itself at my feet on the second day of our hols. I have to say it isn't a terribly accurate impression as I neither screamed nor ran because I was paralysed by fear on both counts!! I've never seen a real snake outside of the Zoo and of all the things I expected to come crashing out of the bushes it wasn't that. I rang the host who said so long as it's not grey with a triangular head it's ok, just try not to antagonise it! Fortunately it wasn't one of these but it still left the problem of a seven year old boy and his natural ability to seek out trouble wherever it may be. Consequently I didn't have my Alice and Camilla moment sitting under a tree drinking Italian wine and crafting while the kid's played quietly in the garden, more like me shrieking (had already practised on hill) have you got your shoes on, don't go in the garden alone, don't climb the stone walls, if the bush rattles keep away etc etc

On the plus side of the unexpected I discovered Italian Decoupage mags, wow! what a find, especially this one called 'di Casamia' which was packed full of vintage illustrations

I also found a treasure trove of wrapping paper, boxes and boxes of the stuff to choose from

Italy

May I introduce... Sestri Levante, a litle gem to be found on the Northern coast of Italy, it really is the stuff of picture postcards

We had an uneventful drive down South but then the fun began when we arrived in Casarza Ligure and the GPS sent us vertically up a road not much wider than the car! ever mindful of those who've followed their GPS's into ditches I said, I mean I shrieked 'this can't be right, this can't be right' (littered with various expletives) but alas we were on the correct road, 3kms of a tight windy steep narrow road which led to our pad for the week (below). We really were perched on top of the world but what a drive, I couldn't sleep for worrying about meeting someone travelling in the opposite direction! By the end of our stay we'd perfected the technique of leaving when everyone had come up the hill to work and returning during siesta before the other half went down again!

Dez Rez, now this is where we should have been staying...

Beautiful colours, loads of inspiration, I shall tell you about the snake tomorrow...