Autumn colour - at the end of October 2022

It is Autumn proper now.  The leaves are falling and plants are changing their leaf colours.  There are still some plants in flower, such as Salvia Cerro Potosi above...

and Nachtvlinder.

Aster Little Carlow is coming to an end,

Liriope Muscari is still looking good.

Clematis Prince Charles has put out a second flush of flowers.  The drought stopped it earlier in the summer.

We have had the most beautiful blue skies.

Japanese Anemone Bressingham Glow has been flowering since the end of July but is coming to an end now.

Blueberry Goldtraube is putting on its Autumn show...

the two plants I have gave me lots of blueberries this year and are such lovely plants to have in the garden.

Hydrangea Dark Angel is also showing its autumn colours.

The low sun made some lovely shadows on the wall this afternoon.

The pyracantha has got lots of berries this year.  It has been with me for three years or so and is now starting to look good. It is against a wall in a north facing border, so is providing a lovely splash of orange.

Finally is the very exotic looking flower of Fatsia Japonica. It did this last year too - put out its flower just as the weather started to get colder. I hope it manages to last a little longer!

#Printinktober 2022 - week three

Printinktober is continuing and I am enjoying looking through my stamp stash and choosing appropriate sets.  Above is 'oldest' which shows some of the first stamps from I bought quite a few years ago now, from the companies Dreamees and Craftwork cards. 

'Animal' just had to be this fabulous tiger stamp by Visible Image, with a leaf stamp in the background.

The prompt for this was 'unused' and most of these autumnal stamps hadn't been used very much, if at all.  The background shapes were painted using watercolour, using a Youtube video from creationsceecee here I had just seen as inspiration.

'Repeat' used a small square stamp from Hunkydory which could build up to cover the page.

'Human' used another Visible Image stamp and the flowers were from a Lisa Horton set.

'Blue' using more small square stamps from Hunkydory and building them into a pattern.

'Combo' had me scratching my head a bit, then inspiration struck after watching a video from Rachel Greig (part of the Wanderlust Live weekend) about creating stamped collage papers, which can be seen here.  I used a combination of stamps from seven different sets to create this page.

On to the next week...

Crafting and Baking

I have been making a card for my sister's birthday and went full on mixed media for it - hope she liked it! It has a die cut leaf which I coloured with acrylic ink and then clear embossed, so it looks as though it is wet.  The background is a mixture of book pages and collage papers and the envelope has leaf stamps on it.

I have been inspired by some Youtubers - I think this one was Ceri Griffiths.  I made three postcard sized collages using lots of bits and pieces of papers and stamps and the odd digikit thrown in..

The inspiration for these was Crafty by Toni here - inking and then stamping onto self adhesive labels.  I used Tim Holtz stamps 'Field Notes' here.

This stamp set was another Tim Holtz set called 'Eccentric'.  I really enjoyed this and now have some lovely bits and pieces for art journals or cards.

I tried a recipe for Devon Apple Cake which was on Corners of my Mind blog here  It was really easy to make, smelled beautifully of cinnamon and mixed spice and tasted even better!  It is great as a pudding with custard, or with cream or yogurt or just on its own.  As it has apple in it, it won't keep for that long, but that wasn't a problem in our house!

#Printinktober 2022 - week two

I am really enjoying Printinktober. The pages are quick to do and are steadily growing.  Above is Stripes,  which used a background stamp from Stamps By Me and my favourite blues.

This is Layered - a stamp set called Beautiful Day by Altenew.  This one was one of the first few stamps I started out with. I was intrigued by how the image builds up.

The Sizzix set, Watercolour Flowers, is one of the Newest stamps sets I have bought recently.  I could have used it for Layered as well.

Green - using two shades of pigment ink and a large square stamp from Carabelle Studios called Dans Mon Herbier.  I like the grungey elements which are included on the stamp.

My own Hand Carved stamps on an inked background.  I do like the handmade look that these stamps have.

Geometric was made using the Visometry stamp set from Visible Image - one of my favourite stamp companies.

Foam using commercially produced foam leaf stamps, a stamp from my art journal course which I made using die cut foam alphabet and foliage, as well as some other shapes made using die cut foam and stuck onto cardboard.  

On to week three!

#Printinktober 2022 - week one

I always enjoy a little creative challenge, so when I saw this one on a blog which I follow, I knew I wanted to get involved.

Inktober is a month long challenge where you use an ink supply to create a piece of art every day during October.  Printinktober is where you use a stamp to create a piece of art every day during October.  I thought it would be a great challenge for me as it would encourage me to use stamps which I haven't used at all, or not very much.  I could also review my stamp collection at the same time..possibly...or not!  There are a set of prompts (above) but as always with these things, you don't have to follow them.  There is an opportunity to share what you do on instagram I think, but I am just going to do a weekly round up here.

Above is Circles. I used a variety of circle stamps from Aall & Create and Visible Image.

This one is Pattern and used stamps I have only used once before. These were border stamps from Dovecraft.

The prompt here was Rubber Stamps, so I used some of my latest Tim Holtz stamps - Eccentric.  I do love all the different texts and numbers in this set. 

Yes, this one is Rainbow and I used some new pigment inks (Versafine Clair) which have lovely vibrant colours. This was a Sizzix stamp set called Splats.

Abstract was the prompt here and this used Altenew Simple Flowers. This is a stamp set I really like but I forget I have got it.  

Here is Silicone - I used a silicone/polymer stamp by Jane Gill for Woodware called Hare in the brambles.

Red - watercolour over black embossed poppy stamp (Perfect poppy) from Hunkydory.  Another stamp I haven't used.  I am really enjoying this challenge and am creating a nice little book as I go along.

Are you joining in this month?

What a lovely surprise!

The other day Chris arrived back from shopping with a large bunch of flowers for me 'just because'.  He doesn't tend to do that very often because he knows that really I prefer flowers from the garden but it was a thoughtful thing to do.  He said he wanted me to know how much I was appreciated by him. They had very suitably autumnal colours. 

This is what the lilies look like now they are opening. They have a strange scent - the top note is a typical lily scent, but underneath is a more musky fragrance which is a little odd.  I have been really enjoying seeing the splash of colour they are providing.  He also brought us come chocolate eclairs to enjoy, which we did. Thank you to Chris - what a lovely surprise!