Sailing across the sea to see a friend. .

Hello Ducky,  I heard you were feeling a little down so I thought I'd pop round to cheer you  up...

I put my best sailor outfit on and my little sailor hat, the one with the red pompom. Hoisted up my dainty lacey sail and headed out across the sea to see you.  It would be so much easier if we lived in the same country...

Before I left I packed a couple of teacups and a large cupcake(I'm sure there's enough for two).

I hadn't gone very far, when, there, swimming about in the sea was a pink sparkly elephant...poor thing was lost and a bit scared. Naturally.

I told him to hop in...not easy when your an elephant.  Anyway, blow me down if this silly fish didn't jump in too.  Looks like fish for supper.  Yummy!

Cut a long story short, Alfie (that's his name, the elephant, not the fish) was on a banana boat headed for Timbucktoo to join the circus, when a gale force storm whipped up.  A big wave crashed into the boat and Alfie got swept away. Fortunately he was wearing a life jacket so he just bobbed along for a few days... I told him I had no idea where Timbucktoo was, so until we find out, he better stay with you.

Well don't just stand there gorping...put the kettle on, I'm parched...

Hope you like my Fun and Nonsense for this week... am sailing off to Sunday Sketches, see you there. . .

101 painted faces. . .

I have three projects sitting on my desk.  Homework, paid work and these three girls.

 Obviously I should be doing my homework and the paid work first but these girls have been calling to me to paint their faces.  I've been staring at their blank bodies for days...um what to do, how to paint them. etc etc etc...They could wait no longer.  Since this morning they have had about 101 different faces painted on them and then painted out again. This is the latest version.

Now it's cup of tea, pecan and white chocolate muffin (me made) time...

Then paid work and homework...the girls will have to live with these faces for awhile...

A couple of you have asked how I made them.  

Here's How

Grab your supplies and prepare to get messy.... yippee!!!

• cooking foil - it's quite easy to mould, especially for small fingers
• cocktail sticks/bbq sticks (depending on size of doll)
• sticky tape - I use masking tape/decorators tape
• pva glue (thick white glue - water it down) or collage sticking glue or gesso. I used gloss medium - because that's what I have in the cupboard.

• very loosely scrunch up a sheet of foil (about A4 size) Don't scrunch too tight or you will have problems in sticking the sticks in.
• you will need to make a head, body and limbs. This is where the sticks come in. For long legs, use a bbq stick for the whole leg it makes them more solid. For short legs a cocktail stick will do, just for attaching legs to body. (For my girls above, I used a separate piece of foil to mould onto the end of my stick for the boot. 

• attach the limbs to the body
• tape the limbs securely in place. I like to tape the whole body but it's not necessary
• rip up some newspaper or tissue paper. I used some pages from an out of date telephone directory
• slap the glue on the doll (in small areas) and then start sticking bits of ripped paper to the doll and cover with more glue
• once the whole doll is covered in paper leave to dry (usually overnight - I pop mine near the radiator)
• you can cover the doll with several layers it you want to

• when the doll is dry, I like to give it a coat of primer - gesso (covers up the newsprint if you don't want it showing) and it makes the paint stick better
• you are then ready to paint your doll and make her come alive.
• You will find that your dolls love to have their picture taken....so snap away

Hope this is helpful.  Please please please send me photos of your dolls. If you have any questions just shout...

Share the Fun and Nonsense that you get up too...

Brown Paper Boat. . .

 Rain rain go away, if you don't I'll sail away. . .

The owl and Miss Cat went to sea in a beautiful brown paper boat. . .

Hello everyone. . . . . .I spent yesterday, far away on a beautiful sunny island.  Just me and Owl, we had to get home for tea as we had forgotten to pack the tent.

Who knew clouds could hold so much water.  It  has rained and rained and rained for days. Well I decided I had enough so I built a brown paper boat. Packed a picnic and sailed away with owl to find where the sun was hiding.  We found Sun on this beautiful island. He said he was having a little holiday, he was tired of getting up early every morning and whizzing round the world every 24 hours. I told him he needed to come back with us because the clouds where making a terrible mess everywhere.

Owl and I managed to persuade  him to come home. I promised to make him a nice cup tea and some fairy cakes with lots of sprinkles on... Sun likes fairy cakes...yellow ones, of course.

Sun is happily playing in my garden as we speak, so I've put my washing out.

Just a little Fun and Nonsense from my journal ramblings...

am sailing off to Sunday Sketches

Squiggles and carrots. . .

Good morning . . .

If you are a regular here, you will know that strange and wonderful creatures pop up in my journals nearly everyday.  This week has been no exception.  This quintet popped up on Wednesday. They told me they were on the lookout for squiggles.  Um, ok. what sort of squiggles I asked.  Thin, fat, straight, wiggly?
I thought that maybe they wanted me to draw them some squiggly lines.  They told me not to be so silly, not squiggly lines... SQUIGGELS!!!!!!                       ooooook I muttered and went and made a lovely cup of violet tea...and pondered on silly birds and squiggles.

I finished my tea and went back to work.  Blow me down, a whole flock had taken up residence in my art bunker and they were all muttering..."keep watch for those thieving furry nut snatchers, keep watch for those thieving furry nut snatchers..."

You can imagine the din they were making.  They were driving me mad.

My feathers were a little ruffled having that twittering lot hanging about on lookout for darned squiggles, muttering away. Then this little girl strolled in very quietly and asked if she could keep the little chick that she had found.  I told her that I thought there were enough birds hanging about , mad ones at that, what with their squiggle phobia...

She started to smile. You've got a lithp.

No, I don't have a lithp, lisp.

You said squiggles instead of squirrels. 

SQUIRRELS!!!!!!! that's what they are looking out for.  

Jolly good, we are all on high alert for squirrels... oh and nasty icky cooked carrots.

These two hate carrots...it's NO to carrots, not looking at them, not talking to them and not eating them. It's WAR....whack'em, attack'em, retch'em up...  

This is my life.... and sharing with Sunday Sketches today...

Hoping there is lots of Fun and Nonsense where you are :)

Ducks and puddles. . .

It's been raining and raining and raining.  The wind got up and then died down and is now howling again. 

This afternoon, Duck wanted to go for a walk and show off his new scarf that I had knitted him. So between showers we wondered out down the lane to see if there was anyone about who might admire Ducks' new scarf.  Once Duck had finished showing off, I said that it might be a good idea to head home before another rain cloud came over.  Duck said he thought it would be an ideal time to find a good splishy splashy puddle and go for a swim...  Ducks have no sense of weather...at all!

That's my Fun and Nonsense for today...hope it's swimming weather where you are... :)