Killiney Beach

Beautiful morning in Killiney a few days ago.

Documented Life Project

Challenges on hold until our visitors go home. Plenty to keep me busy in the meantime

What I was wearing yesterday and today

Boden black jeans

Clarks burgundy high pumps

Grey top 

Benetton black cardi

Burgundy scarf

the Clarks pumps

Today

Boden jeans

Boden purple jumper

Clarks runners

What I was wearing yesterday

Boden breton top

Boden jeans

Clarks runners/boots

Books

I'm going to have to do the same for books as I did for movies. Not enough time to review each individually.

Game of Thrones - books 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5- I've been reading these for months now. Book 1 was a slow buildup. Books 2 and 3 were full of surprises - a twist in every chapter. Book 4 was a bit slow, and focused on characters I didn't really care that much about, apart from Arya. Book 5 is also slow, but back with all the people I love, so much more interesting. Mmmm. I'm a bit confused. Am I reading Book 5 right now? Did I miss one? Oh Dear! Now I'm finished Book 5, and the action did pick up very well, but I realise to my horror that that's it. There are no more for now. Oh, I do hope George R. R. Martin hurries up and finishes writing the full story. And I wish him long life!

Gone Girl - Woman goes missing. Her husband is the prime suspect. Very clever - amazing twist - good summer read.

The Interview - If you're interested in Eileen Gray, this is a fascinating read. Historical fiction that feels so real, it's like being inside Eileen Gray's head, and heart.

The Fault in Our Stars - A best-seller. Sweet story about a teenage girl with cancer. It's not because you have cancer that you can't fall in love. A bit YA for my taste, but a good read all the same

The Sea -Very serious. very rewarding. How the events of the past come back to haunt a man who's just lost his wife.

The Storyteller - Jodi Picoult at her best. A beautiful story set before and during the Holocaust and in the present day.

Hotel Iris - Interesting story of a young Japanese girl who becomes involved with a much older man. Very atmospheric and disturbing.

The Abduction - Great holiday read about a young girl who is abducted by a gang. Are they looking for a ransom? Will she live?

26a - Two little girls embark on the journey of a lifetime. One will come back broken. Starts light and happy and ends in tragedy.

Norwegian Wood - depressing story about depression.

Out of all the books above, the only two I would read again are Game of Thrones (because there is so much to take in) and The Storyteller (because it's such a good story).

Ark Vetcare

Love the team at Ark Vetcare!

Documented Life Project - Week 46

The challenge for Week 46 was to incorporate fabric. I don't have a sewing machine, so fabric projects are always difficult for me. I decided to glue a piece from a length of black fabric with a brown reverse I bought many many years ago in Hong Kong. What I was planning to do with the length, I have no idea. But I won't be missing the little rectangle I cut from it to glue to my journal page.










I glued it to a black and mauve page, but it really didn't look great. I added pieces of mauve and gold embossed paper from a Dealz set. But it still didn't work. It took many layers of Gelli printing to get to this. The breakthrough was when I used a scrap of wallpaper to create a wood texture on my Gelli plate, and I applied it all over. I like those white lines so much that I will be using them for other projects, I'd say!

Mauve, black and gold is not my favourite combination of colours, but sometimes it's good to push myself to explore these unloved hues!

I "collected" leftover paint from my Gelli plate onto wide sellotape and applied it to a notebook page. I will use this page to do my journalling

I printed the same pattern onto another page, and cut beautiful little circles from it. I've glued these to the left-hand page now.

What I'm wearing today (and yesterday)

Yesterday

Boden black jeans

M&S black boots

Banana Republic jumper

Benetton grey scarf

Today

Boden jeans (these are my favourites, and they don't make them anymore!)

Clarks runners

Boden jumper

Documented Life Project - Week 45

Add a Tab was week 45's challenge. That didn't really inspire me much, I have to admit. I covered a tag with acrylic paint - I was trying to achieve interesting textures with my Gelli Plate, but it's a bit dull.

To jazz the page up a bit, I added tissue paper covered with bits of paint.

Actually, I think it will work out quite well as a background for journalling, but on its own, it's all a bit boring. You can't win them all!

Wave at Killiney

Probably my last project before Christmas.

Had a lot of fun with masking fluid. But will need to apply a lot more of it to make convincing waves. And my background sea is too contrived. Will definitely go back to pouring paint next time. But I like my sand/pebbles - layer upon layer of masking fluid and paint

What I'm wearing today (and yesterday)

Zara skinny jeans

Clark's ankle boots

Boden jumper

Zara navy scarf

Zara skinny jeans

Boden tunic

Zara scarf

(I haven't decided what shoes to wear yet)

Documented Life Project - Week 44

I was very lazy for Week 44 - draw/paint a leaf. I had a page with a leaf print from one of my Gelli plate projects. And I called it done!! (And as you can see, I'm completely out of sync with my actual journaling!

Namarama

What I'm wearing today

Black Boden skirt

Black Clarks pumps

Grey Boden cardi (really old, but I love it to bits)

Grey Benetton scarf

Invisalign - Day 30

I'm on my third set of Invisalign trays now. Had my first review with the orthodontist, who was happy at how things are progressing.

What I'm wearing today

 Patagonia cosy top, Boden jeans, Clarks runners

Circles

I love my punched circles

Big

And Small

What I was wearing yesterday

Boden skinny jeans

Boden woolen tunic

Costelloe+Costelloe Christmas scarf

Documented Life Project - Week 43

The Week 43 challenge was "to sketch what's in front of you right now". So I decided to draw and paint a gorgeous Ikea vase I had bought just for the purpose of painting! It was there on my busy desk, staring at me.

I tore another page out of the book I sacrificed for that purpose. It's called Petite, and it's a story about a young girl who decides to stop eating. I will probably read that book again as I take page after page for art projects!

To be honest, the drawing I did of the bottle in my sketchbook looks better than this wobbly one, but I'm happy with its roundedness and transparency. So I decided to go with it.

I punched another page of the same book for my daily buttons.

The inside page contains a masking tape transfer of a photograph - it just happened to be on that page!

I'm running out of time for this year (I'm starting the big tidy-up before our Christmas visitors arrive), so I called it done!

Documented Life Project - Week 42

Week 42 Challenge - Stars.

Well I took liberties with this one. I am useless at drawing stars. I just can't get the angles right. But that instructional video on masking fluid saved me again!

The challenge didn't specify how many stars I was to depict? How about a night sky full of them?

What I'm wearing today

Black Boden skirt 

M&S grey thermal long-sleeved tshirt

Old Belgian scarf

Boden boots (bought a looong time ago)

Matching Boden tights

Blurred picture, but it shows the boots quite well

I love these Boden boots. I know I should have bought them in black. It would have been much more practical, but I loved the colour. I would call the colour dark pink? What would you call it?

another wonderful performance by Isabel Leonard

What I'm wearing today

Boden jeans

Boden red jumper

Benetton grey scarf

Clark's red shoes

Birch Trees

Finished my Birch Trees watercolour last weekend. As you may remember, I had used masking fluid and a pouring technique to get started with this painting, but I was worried that I would ruin it all in the next stage.

Well, after finding this wonderful instructional video on masking fluid, I decided to throw myself into it. After about 3 or 4 layers of masking and painting, here is the result:

And here are a few detailed shots:

PS - this is not a very big painting - about 20 cm tall. Painted on watercolour board. I'm rather pleased with it.

Oh, I nearly forgot, here is the original photo that inspired this little project. Three beautiful birch trees in Marlay Park. For me, it's important to paint from something real. I can't just paint notional trees. I would just feel they would lack heart and soul. That said, I did take a few liberties with my subject.

What I'm wearing today

Boden black jeans

M&S black top (really old!)

M&S black boots

Benetton black scarf

And in case you're wondering, the aqua bracelet on my left wrist is a Fitbit

Interstellar

I had read a really bad review in the Sunday Times, so I was worried. But the 2 hours 45 minutes went really quickly, so that's a good sign. Interstellar wasn't science-fictionny enough for me, but it wasn't a bad movie. But what with Hollywood's obsession with cute kids and a happy ending? And why did it have to have a baddy that was so obvious? And how did the hero keep his farmer's tan through months/years in space?

Three Rock

Wonderful Sunday morning up in the mountains!

This photo courtesy of BB: