More Autumn colour to enjoy

The garden is definitely changing and autumn colour is more in evidence.  I was stopped in my tracks by the fiery combinations of leaf colour from the blueberry Goldtraube and hydrangea Pinky Winky on the patio.  I had to rush in for my camera. 

Smaller things are also bringing joy with this little cyclamen. The others finished flowering a while ago, but this one is having a late flush.  I do like its crinkly-edged leaves too. 

The salvias are still flowering as well.  Above is Cerro Potosi with its bright fuchsia flowers. This one is in a pot and I really should get it planted in the border.

This is another salvia Cerro Potosi which is planted in the border and which has decided to grow up through the magnolia. 

Here it is again, with the last few cosmos and helianthus flowers.  I have been planting some bulbs and gathering leaves for leaf mould.  I expect I will be able to gather up a few more this week too.

More cards

As you know, being able to make cards for people is something I really enjoy.  This card was tailored for a friend who has a big birthday this year and includes lots of things she likes, such as travelling, gardens, flowers, cups of tea/coffee, reading, embroidery, painting and cats. I also found a page from a class register in a digital kit which I used for the background, as we worked together as teaching assistants, and a couple of dictionary definitions for children and grandchildren.   

The back of the card symbolises the travels she has been on as her husband is a keen birdwatcher!

This was the other card I made for her, as she liked a page like this that I had done in a journal, so I reproduced it for her.

Men's cards are always a little trickier, so I do keep an eye out for stamps or stencils that would work well.  Geometric shapes are usually a good choice.  This is one of the Sizzix stencils I bought in August - you can see them here. 

This was for my nephew.  

This was for my sister who has seen some of the slow drawings I do and so I thought I should use them for her card.  I have a box full of these little drawings/paintings, so it is good to be able to use them.

I have some cards to make for November birthdays, so will need to get on with them next.

Wanderlust 2025 - part three

Here are my favourite pieces from the last twelve weeks of the art journaling course, Wanderlust 2025.  The broad theme was 'Storytelling' and within that, we had 'Journaling', 'Capturing Moments' and 'Taking Inspiration'.  Above was all about gratitude and using different ways to capture things we were grateful for.  I used a die I bought earlier this year to make the mini clipboard and a die for the paperclip. 

More journaling opportunities with this page. I used a napkin for the flowers.  Simple, but enjoyable. 

I think this was a 'capturing moments' lesson.  We used a photo and then drew the image on tracing paper.  The flower is one of my cosmos flowers. 

I used magazine transfer for this page.  The magazine images didn't really like the textured watercolour card page, but it gives a faded and worn look , which I like.  The images are of the Eden project in Cornwall and views of Florence and Rome, all places I have visited. The birds stamp is one I have cut from lino and it is one of my favourites to use.  The word is also a transfer, using magazine letters onto sticky tape, which was a new technique to me.

Memories of a holiday to Egypt turned into the next page, with tickets, money, and photos.

We looked at Expressionist artists as the inspiration for this piece.  We were asked to just go with our intuition and not worry what the image was going to be.  You can see the Van Gogh influence in the lines here, I think.  I am still not sure what the three hill shapes mean, but I enjoyed the process of this one. I think the face is somewhat enigmatic too.  

We chose a favourite poem or song lyric as the inspiration for this page.  Mine is 'The Way through the Woods' by Rudyard Kipling.  Again, I thoroughly enjoyed the process on this one too and am pleased with the end result. 

Finally, this interesting page.  This is very much in Dyan Reaveley's style (she was the teacher for this one) and she does have a recognisable style in her work.  She told us about something she does every six months or so, which is to go through magazines and pull out pictures which appeal. It should be an intuitive process. My pictures include cake, gardening equipment, flowers, a woman reading, a pen, a vase, a mug, some blue glass, a cat face, a silk scarf and some jewellery.  It depends what magazines you have used for the images you might find.  I loved creating the collage, although it took a bit of time to get it right and I had to take a photo of it  before I started glueing things down. 

On to the last twelve weeks of this year's course - the broad theme is 'Leaps and Bounds'.

Autumn is here

Autumn is definitely flexing its muscles and the garden is reacting.  While there is still lots of colour, leaves are changing, like those of the blueberry above. 

This is Symphyotrichum (Aster) Little Carlow which is covered in powdery mildew thanks to being too dry at its roots, but the flowers are looking pretty. 

Hydrangea Bobo also got too dry and has taken all summer to actually flower.  Now its leaves are beautiful shades or orange and red...

...fiery and gorgeous!

However, the flowers are still quite a pristine white, with touches of pink on the edges.  It makes quite a combination with the leaves.

Other hydrangeas - these are Magical Revolution ones - are turning their red tones.

Here you can see various shades on the different flowers.

Rose Dannahue is bringing a lot of joy with its pretty apricot flowers.

How's this for an eye catching duo?  Symphyotrichum (Aster) Mrs S T Wright and September Ruby. These are seedlings from the original plants and have planted themselves here, but they look good together, so I have left them.