N is for .....................

I gave you a clue on my Wimbledon post that my N for the dictionary challenge over at the Craft Barn had something to do with the tennis we saw.....I teased you and I bet most of you thought Net...but no I went more abstract....mine is N for New and the new in my art journal page is for New balls and New British tennis champions (and also new pendant for me...more about that later) There are also some fun summer challenges around so I used their inspiration too.

If you missed my post of our awesome day out at the mens' singles finals you can read it here. For those of you who did not recognize the celebs I took photos of in the Royal Box...Kate and William in the first photo are the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge ie next in line to the throne after Prince Charles.  The next is of  Bjorn Borg, in the pale blue suit (a previous supreme Wimbledon champion in the 70s), Boris Becker next (another amazing previous champion in the 80s) and the last is of Benedict Cumberbatch, actor,  of Sherlock Holmes fame...yes I know I only caught a side view)

I had decided before we left for Wimbledon on Sunday morning that I would try to capture some photos of when New balls are ordered...and I did!

 The ball boys (and girls) did the ball change so quickly it was really hard to catch them but you can see the new tube of balls coming out (above left) and the balls being rolled into play.

 and the old ones have to be put back into the tubes too. All in just a few seconds.

I wanted to use the gorgeous colours of Wimbledon for my N art journal page so out came my distress ink in Wimbledon colours. I used them through some very "tennis" stencils including circles, nets and dots.
Strawberries had to feature so I made a small masterboard which I used to die cut  New "balls".
I used this  photo  as my focal.

I took it in one of the on site shops

If you look at the advert  on the wall on the right , it's one for Links.

 For the years that we have been lucky enough to get tickets my darling Hb has bought me a Links charm at Wimbledon.  Recently they have made limited edition dated ones which are very sought after.

When I saw the 2016 tennis racket (above right) advertised a few months ago I mentioned it to my Hb. We both agreed that by the time we got to the finals this charm would have long sold out.

A few weeks ago my Hb came home from work and  he handed me this box and inside...

yes my own 2016 charm. Bless him....in his lunch hour from work he went to the London Links store.  They had already sold out in the shop but sourced one from another branch and he returned another day to collect it for me. Such a lovely surprise.

I was able to wear my new charm for a few weeks before Wimbledon and of course I wore it on Finals' day. I went to look at the Links charms in the Wimbledon shop and not only had they sold out in the first day or so of the championship but everyone wanted to have mine, which I was proudly wearing.

So back to my N for New page. I know you enjoy seeing my process so here is what I got up to in my studio.

I chose my "Wimbledon colours" distress inks and also some archival inks. I looked through my stencils and selected some which looked like balls and nets to me . I also have an ancient wooden strawberry stamp (I think it's PSX..remember them?) I also have a great Stampendous Love prose stamp.

 I decided to make a mini master board using my stamps and then I sprayed yellow Dylusions ink through the circle TH stencil.

I then used a circle die to cut myself my own New balls. 

 In my art journal I prepared an inky background using my stencils and Distress inks.

Once I was happy with my stencilled background I added a few strawberries (of course!)

Then it was time to put on my creative hat.......

Here is my finished N for New art journal page......

I would like to enter my AJ page into the following challenges;

The Craft barn dictionary challenge N
Cheery Lynn 1/2 anything goes their die is the great film set.
Anything but cute summertime fun
Crafty Calendar punches or dies 2/3
Crafting from the heart  2/3 anything goes
Happy little stampers anything goes with dies
Noor anything goes
Creative Inspiration 2/3 seaside, sunshine, and summer holidays I have use sunshine and summer holidays, plenty of time to play tennis and eat strawberries
Moving along with the times 1/3 no designer papers
Love to create 2/2
The Artistic stamper 2/3 all things bright and beautiful

Thanks for visiting today and for the kind comments you take the time to leave me. The rain still keeps making an appearance among the sunshine here. Let's hope we start to get some sustained sunshine soon.  We enjoyed a lovely day out at Uppton, a National Trust property yesterday. The weather was very kind and the rain held off until our drive home.... and yes my trusty camera came along.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x

Game, set and what a match

Thank you to Billy for holding the fort  blog on Saturday whilst I celebrated Christmas in July.  I gather he spilled the beans of where we were heading yesterday..........yes we were lucky enough to have tickets Centre Court Tickets for Wimbledon.

This is a very photo heavy post so you might want to grab a cuppa first. If you are only looking for my challenge card just scroll to the bottom.

Wow what a match it was... it might have looked like a straight forward win on paper but being there and seeing every point it certainly wasn't. The standard of play was unbelievable and the atmosphere in Centre Court was absolutely electric. Andy was a very worthy winner indeed.

 I thought I would show you around and share our wonderful day out in SW19, the sun even came out in time for the start of play at 2pm....perfect English weather.

We started our day off in the All England Tennis Club with a cappuccino...cool eh! I love their stencil... I would love to own one!

My Hb and I like to get there when the grounds open at 10.30am to have a wander around and soak up the atmosphere. The grounds are so pretty and the flowers are always "Wimbledon" colours.

Obviously all the outside courts were empty as it was finals day but it was still fun to see them

At 1.45pm we took our seats on Centre Court and at 2pm the crowd roared as Murray and Raonic came on court.

We were sitting to the right of the Royal Box and we noticed that a certain couple had sneaked in at that same time.

We also spotted a few other famous faces

The speed of their serves often exceeded 130mph: so much power from these 2 talented players.

Between the points there were times when the whole court fell totally silent....it really was an incredible experience.
When Andy won match point the court just erupted

 and he wept...what a moment

Out came the red  green carpet

and the trophy

and Andy was crowned King of the mens' singles players.

We were also lucky enough to see our British girl Heather Watson and her partner Henri Kontinen win the mixed doubles later that afternoon.

 Her delight was infectious, she was literally bouncing around the court with joy when they won.

 I was also impressed that William and Kate had stayed on to watch the mixed doubles...most of the royal box was empty following the mens' finals match.

 They were genuinely delighted for her win.

The mixed finals trophies were presented in the royal box

and we celebrated too...

 So then it was time to make our way home.

 Another amazing Wimbledon fortnight over. Time to pull the shutters down.

 No more crowds until next year.

 Just time to hop on the bus and make our way home....

My card today was inspired by our momentous day and the champagne we drank to celebrate.
The dies are Spellbinder. The bottle die is an old sizzix and the bubble embossing folder is TH.

 

I gave it a retro feel with my Dymo labels.


I think the sentiment sums up our day..it was the 130th Wimbledon final and it really is an event which has "aged to perfection". Well done to our worthy tennis champions...we were so lucky to have been there to witness their wins.

2016 has been a very kind year to us too so far.

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges;

Pixie's snippets playground #237 I used snippets of card for my champers bottle.
Crafty Calendar punches or dies 1/3
Crafting from the heart  1/3 anything goes
Crafty Hazelnut's patterned paper challenge anything goes July
Allsorts 2/3 one for the boys
Mod Squad 2/3 lazy days of summer I cannot think of anything better than sipping champagne on a warm summer's day.
Try it on Tuesdays happy holidays I love to have a picnic with champagne on holiday.
Simon says stamp Wednesday photo inspiration I used the colours and the bubbles in the waves for my inspiration

I plan to make an art journal page of our day too for the dictionary challenge. The letter this fortnight is  N.......you will smile at what my N is for...any guesses?? Watch this space ;0)

Thanks for your kind visits and sweet comments. Enjoy the week ahead.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x