Romantic Austria Part 2

On our first full day in Zell (it was a Sunday), we decided to take it easy and have a smooch around the lake side and the town.

Our hotel was only 5 minutes from the lake (if that) so that was where we headed first walking from one end of the town boundary to the other.

Stopping for our first beer of the day along the way!

...and admiring the view :)

Heading into town it was very quiet (a bit of a bonus really as the last time I was here (many moons ago) it was heaving with people!)

Admired the buildings

and then SF decided he really, really needed some lunch ;) and something typical of the region ideally....I thought to myself that could be a bit tricky!

Now if I tell you that he does not eat meat at all (although he loves fish so not a strict vegetarian) ...you might see why I thought it might be tricky as the Austrians do love their meat meals ...but in all our time there it was a revelation as there was always something very tasty to choose.

After a brief look see at some of the menu's at different venues...
...(some of them had a bit of a cue) ;)...

We chose this place as there was a wild mushroom special of the day (foraged from the woods)...

SF really fancied that idea and when I told him the translation that swung it!

Herrenpiltz - otherwise known as Steinpiltz - Boletus edulis technical name -

and in English translates as Man Mushrooms :)

Wow! they were fabulous, aptly named I think...very meaty if you can understand that? LOL

I had a warm potato salad with pumpkin seeds and bacon served with garlic bread...although I gave over half the bread to SF!

Talk about scrummy!!

SF was dying to try some strudel so that's what he did (I was being cautious and just had a couple of spoonfuls of his ;))

We then thought it might be a good idea to walk off some of the calories just consumed and headed off to walk up the hill to where one of the cable cars start from.

Whew! It was a bit of an uphill road and I got a bit hot.....so when we got there we had to get some water and went to sit outside and admire the view.

After we had cooled down a bit we set off back down the hill to town :)

Passing lovely flower balconies...

...and wood piles on the way....YES...we both like wood piles!!! ROFL

Went back to the hotel, swam...enjoyed the different jacuzzi jets in the pool...fabby ;)
Changed for dinner,

relaxed...went to look at the lakeside sound and light display with dancing waters, lasers and a super classical music score...

then went to bed fairly early...ROFL...
...we had to get up at a ridiculous time for our day trip to Salzburg....honest!!! :)

xoxo Sioux
More Austrian delights to follow.

Hey You for The Artistic Stamper

I'm sharing a card today over on the The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog

Curious? Then just hop on over to The Creative Team Blog for all the details.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux

P.S. I appreciate each and every comment here but time is short in all our lives so please do not feel obliged to comment both here and on the creative team post.
...I'll see your comments and share the feed back all at the same time if you use The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog post ;)
Thanks

Autumn Card for The Artistic Stamper

I'm sharing a card today over on the The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog

Curious? Then just hop on over to The Creative Team Blog for all the details.

Thanks for looking and happy stamping
xoxo Sioux

P.S. I appreciate each and every comment here but time is short in all our lives so please do not feel obliged to comment both here and on the creative team post.
...I'll see your comments and share the feed back all at the same time if you use The Artistic Stamper Creative Team Blog post ;)
Thanks

Alter Something for The Artistic Stamper

You all made some very inventive entries for last months challenge "Autumn" :)
So.....how about joining us this month for something a little different?

"Alter Something"

Yes, that's the challenge for October over at The Artistic Stamper Creative Team ;)

So.....I was struggling to decide what exactly to alter and how exactly to alter it!!! LOL
In the end serendipity played it's part (as it so often does in my life!) and whilst I was getting rid of lots of junk in the shed I came across some tiles left over from when the kitchen was fitted a few years ago! Well lets face it if I have not needed them up to now there is not much chance I will need them in the future! But just as I was throwing them out I thought....hang on a minute...they might make a great base to alter....so I did....and made them into some drinks coasters for my honey and I to use :)

It's a pretty simple process.

First I did a rough doodle of what I had in mind for the layouts...

Then I drew round the tile onto some scrap paper and had a practise run with some stamps ;)

I then placed some tissue paper over this practise run template and secured both layers to my non stick mat with tape so they did not budge and started to stamp my images using Archival inks.

Masking the images as necessary as I went along and sometimes using a second stamping of an image to get a slightly different shade onto the design.
(I really must get a few more of those gorgeous new Archival colours ::))

This is the finished tissue paper layer compared to the original practise layer...I did alter it slightly as I went along to get a more pleasing (to me) layout :)

Now to attach the tissue to the tile...I used Glue and Seal and firstly gave the tile a coat using a brush before placing the tissue paper on top of the still wet Glue and Seal and using the brush and more Glue and Seal all over the tissue paper to attach it to the tile. Try and take the tissue paper down the side of the tile for a nice edge and don't overwork the tissue on the surface or it may tear...although where the edges are concerned the fact that the wet edges tear easily is a bonus as you can then easily mould any surplus onto the reverse of the tile.

Now be patient as this will be best left to dry overnight (as the tile has a very slick surface).
Then use some designer paper (we all have plenty of that lying around now don't we LOL) to cover the reverse of the tile so that you don't scratch your table when you use the coaster. I used some T!m Holtz Crowded Attic papers attached with Glossy Accents and finished the edges of the coaster with some Adirondack Gold Dabber.

For the female coaster I plumped for using some of the new stamps from Katy Fox, the wings from my Dance plate, the lovely lady from Twenties no 1 plate,  and the word Love from Journaling Words 1.

For the male version I used the same new stamps from Katy Fox and the wings and crown from Crowning Glory.

P.S. The significance of the date is the day my honey and I met for the first time:)
We are so lucky to have found each other. Aaaah!

You really must take a look at the "Alter Something" creations the rest of the team have made.

So don't forget.............the monthly challenge is "Alter Something"

The rules are simple... all you need to do is make a piece of art and alter anything you fancy ;)... just remember that it must include some rubber stamping... and... if you use Artistic Stamper stamps on your entry you will be entered into the draw twice! The prize is £15 worth of stamps from the Artistic Stamper shop... along with the KlingOn to mount them onto.

I hope you get chance to play at the challenge... it is open until October 31st and the winner will be chosen by Random.org shortly after :)

Thanks for looking and happy stamping

xoxo Sioux