Saturday 31 January 2015

Grey's Court in winter

Last weekend I went to Grey's Court with Richard.
It is a National Trust property, and it is open every
day for the first time this winter. It was a good place
to visit on a mild winter's day, and very popular with
families and dog walkers too. Guided tours of the house
are available, and some pleasant walks around the
estate. I enjoyed wandering round the gardens 
and spotting  bulbs pushing up here and there, 
 a sign that Spring is not too far away, 
after we have got through the cold spell, and
the snow, which has fallen this weekend.
The Old Dairy has been converted into very nice 
tea rooms, and we like the shop too! 
In the garden I was rather taken by the hydrangea heads, 
which are decomposing on the stems, 
and the lace effect which
is forming.

Grey's Court
Set in the Chilterns
I love the varied textures of the trees
Walled garden
Old door way
 Hydrangea flowers
 Hydrangea with lace effect

Wednesday 21 January 2015

Tag Tuesday-TextureTuesday


I was thrilled with this week's theme on Tag Tuesday,
 as I absolutely love
texture, as you can guess by my blog being called Texture Trail!
I couldn't resist using the word Tuesday and making 
a textured tag with it!
For the background I used my favourite printing
technique with a gelli plate, creating texture using salt
and different types of acrylic paints. For the letters I used
gesso through a stencil which made it stand up in relief, then
cut out  the letters.
I took a photo of my tag against a wooden board, as I 
thought the grain of fabric would show it off well.


Sunday 18 January 2015

Christmas Books

The time since Christmas has been flying by so fast, that I am only just
 posting about the books I received this Christmas . I think that books
make excellent Christmas presents, and  really look forward to reading them/
looking at them at Christmas. The best thing is that then they stay with you, and 
you have time to browse them at your leisure. At the moment, as I
am studying drawing and painting classes, my favourites are these new ones.

A Short Book of Drawing by Andrew Marr

A Shetland Notebook by Norman Ackroyd

Hockney's Pictures published by Thames and Hudson

Wednesday 14 January 2015

Tag Tuesday-Diva




                                 The theme for this week's Tag Tuesday is Diva.

                         
I have been tidying my studio today, it is always a 
suprise to be reunited with treasures! I haven't been in
there much over Christmas, so it was lovely to reclaim it
and restore order.

I really enjoyed  making  my Diva tag, especially being back
in the creative groove and in my creative space.
I chose an image from a book on Victorian costume, of an elegant
lady in evening dress. She looks ready to perform on stage at the opera.
I put her on a stamped background of flowers and French writing, and added
some paper flowers and an archway to frame her, and finished off with a
shiny gold trimmed ribbon.

Thursday 8 January 2015

Blowing the Cobwebs Away

After the Christmas festivities it is a pleasure to
go for a walk by the River Thames and to "blow the
cobwebs away"

The first two images were taken on a very cold day at Henley.

The River Thames at Henley
Egyptian Geese

By contrast the other photos were taken the following day
a few miles away at Hambleden in the sunshine. The weather
felt so mild that when we stopped for a mulled wine at the
Stag and Huntsman, we sat outside in the sunshine, along 
with all the dog walkers and children, and very jolly it was too!
The speck  hovering above the hills in the photos below is a red kite!

Hambleden Hills
Hambleden Lock
The River Thames at Hambleden Lock
 Lots of walkers out and about
Beautiful clear reflections in the water


Tuesday 6 January 2015

Tag Tuesday-Winter Wonderland

The first theme of the year for Tag Tuesday is Winter Wonderland.

For my Winter Wonderland tag I have combined some of my 
favourite things:- gelli printing, wooden print blocks, snowflakes 
and washi tape.



Sunday 4 January 2015

Happy New Year!










Wishing a
Happy New Year to you all!
I hope 2015 will be a good year for you.
I thought you would like this cheery image from The Graphics Fairy. It is from a French vintage 
 New Year card.