Hi Friends,

Happy Tuesday!  They were playing Christmas music in the shops last week and I thought – nooooo it’s way too soon – and then I managed to knock over a whole stand of knee high Santas with my bag and had to spend 10 mins setting them up again as as soon as I set one back up another would fall over like dominoes.  I wasn’t expecting to see Mr Claus there either haha so it was quite the experience.  By the way, Blogger is still causing me some problems, it is currently taking 33 seconds for the comment form to load on any blogger blogs, so in that time I can go fill the kettle, feed the kitties, whatever, and it still hasn’t loaded.  It might take me longer than usual to leave comments while this is going on.

Today’s Art . . .

Today’s art is something I made yesterday and finished today for the current theme over on Art Journal Journey this month hosted by Bleubeard and Elizabeth.  I choose both collage and food/drink today.  One thing we grow a lot of, and eat a lot of, here, is Scottish Porridge Oats!  The bag even has the flag on them so we know they are really Scottish and just in case that’s not clear, it also says “grown and milled in Scotland” around the outside of it.  I never really noticed how much food packaging is actually orange!  Last month I did a Halloween candy page and commented how so many of the chocolate wrappers were orange, not just for Halloween but all year round, and now here we are again, with the clementines, walnuts and blueberry packaging, all orange.  I guess they are trying to stand out in a crowd but it is a crowd of other orange wrapped products!

This page is made with stuff from the recycling bin!  The entire page is covered with this Scottish Porridge Oats plastic bag which I glued down onto my watercolour journal page. Since a lot of the porridge bag was blue, I ended up with a mainly blue and orange colour scheme. On the left hand side I adhered some orange netting from the bag of Clementines I bought when buying the porridge.  The mesh is mostly covered up now by the woman,but it does go the full length of the page.  On top of that there is another orange plastic bag with a darker orange diamond pattern on it, which had walnuts in it, and part of the label from the box of Blueberries (as you will see in the photo of the porridge, they also added blueberries to their bowl).  I like to put both blueberries and walnuts in my baked (porridge) oats.  The woman with the scarf is cut out of an old Anthropologie catalogue from October 2014!  Never throw anything away, right!

I hid some of the supermarket branding with a gel printed scrap and a Pukka tea tag, then on the right hand side, another teabag sachet, a teacup cut from a box of decaf tea, a bit of tartan scrap paper and a Distress Oxide scrap underneath it all.

There is also some washi tape added around the page, in oranges and blues, and a tiny blue washi cat is sitting on the edge of the bowl of porridge.  You can just make out the texture of the watercolour paper showing through the plastic of the porridge bag.

I used the collage cluster on the right as a pocket and wrote out my recipe for baked oats and popped it inside the pocket.  To finish up, I did some doodling with a white pen and some journalling about my porridge-eating expertise – I have been eating porridge for a long time haha.  I mentioned a few posts ago, that my Dad said they used to pour very thick porridge into a kitchen drawer and leave it for a week till it was set, then slice it up and eat it for lunch.  Well my baked oats recipe reminds me of this every time I make it, though instead of leaving it in a drawer for a week, I bake it in the oven, then slice it up into bars, just the same.

That’s it for today, I feel good about my recycling efforts today!   Time to go make more baked porridge oats!  What are you having for breakfast this morning?

Let me know what you think in the comments.   As always, thanks for reading!

Ingredients
my handmade journal, watercolour paper, food packaging,magazine image, washi tape, scrap papers, white pen, matte medium, double-sided tape, glue,

Challenges

Altered Book Lover – T Stands for
Art Journal JourneyCollage or Food & Drink

29 Awesome Comments (btw comment moderation is on)
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Alison Hall
November 18, 2022 3:17 pm

I’ve never baked my oats, apart from using them instead of flour in a crumble topping. I mash up a banana for sweetness, mix in some margarine, then add oats. I never weigh anything, but it usually turns out ok 😀 As for breakfast, I slow cook my oats in a saucepan, stirring with my Scottish spurtle.
Great to see your page in more detail than on my phone on Instagram, and to read your process Elle. I love all the different recycled elements you used, and the little kitty sitting on the edge of the bowl.
Alison

Neet Hickson
November 17, 2022 11:15 am

As a kid I used to mix dry porridge oats with sugar and eat it out of a two ounce sweetie bag. Strange! I love my porridge oats and use them in so many ways, my favourite being some biscuits that a dear friend gave me the recipe for years ago. It has been passed around a lot.
Love what yu have done, interesting about the colours you mention in advertising but guess the orange and its complimentary blue stand out. Never seen these oats.
Hugs, Neet xx

pearshapedchris
November 16, 2022 11:35 pm

Commenting on blogs is such a different experience than it used to be. As for those improved broadband connections we were promised…..I’m still waiting!
I love this page -some food packaging has such great images and patterns. It’s a great page for Elizabeth’s AJJ theme. Your oat recipe looks great. Belated Happy T Day, Chrisx

Carola Bartz
November 16, 2022 6:43 pm

That is a fun collage page, so much to see. I like it a lot. Blogger problems seem to be a constant these days.
Sorry I’m late, things have been a bit crazy here lately.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth
November 16, 2022 2:17 am

Once again, I’m late. If you think YOU have trouble getting blogger to load, try adding photos and a blog post. It’s been a nightmare. I kept blaming it on my slow internet, but now I am beginning to believe it is blogger that is slow. Last week, I was adding ONE photo and it took so long, I was able to go to the kitchen, get a cup of coffee, and return to the office before the image loaded!

I am a huge fan of recycling. That means this spread really spoke to me. I love everything about it from the mesh to the tea bag holder and tag. I especially love the little blue kitty. Thanks for the great collage fodder you shared with us at Art Journal Journey using Bleubeard’s and my themes. And of course, thanks for sharing this recycled beauty with us for T this Tuesday, dear Elle.

You certainly painted a great visual of you knocking over all those Santas. I had to laugh, but only because of how you described the event.

Kate Yetter
November 15, 2022 11:48 pm

I know what you mean about things taking so long to load, but for me it is streaming services. Thankfully, I don’t have Blogger but I have heard nothing but terrible things about it.
I love your collaged page. I love the Anthropologie catalogs but I had too many so I threw them all out. Your page is inspirational for sure,
Happy Tea Day,
Kate

C J
C J
November 15, 2022 7:33 pm

I shouldn’t have laughed at you for knocking down the Santas as it would have been something I would have done. Your collage page is very yummy and the blue and orange color scheme is very striking. My favorite element on your page? The little black kitty. Happy T Day

Lisca Meijer
Lisca Meijer
November 15, 2022 7:28 pm

Yes, I hate it too when they start the Xmas stuff so early. By the time it get to the 25th, I’m sick and tired of the season.
Your collage is wonderful. I love porridge too. I have never had baked porridge. I might try your recipe, as I make porridge and keep it in the fridge and when needed I cut a slice, add some milk or water and heat it up.
Happy T Day,
Hugs,
Lisca

Erika N
November 15, 2022 6:16 pm

I am making my porridge oats right now as I eat them for lunch much of the time when the weather is cold. This page is so appropriate for me right now. I haven’t tried baked oats though. They sound good. And how frustrating to knock over that display. I swear stores try to cram so much into them there is no room to move. I hope you are having a happy T day Elle. And I am loving your page. Thanks for linking up to Elizabeth’s challenge at AJJ too. This is perfect. hugs-Erika

Valerie-Jael
November 15, 2022 5:23 pm

Love the fantastic journal page you made, what a great collage. And Scottish porridge oats are really wonderful, a yummy breakfast! Have a great T Day, hugs, Valerie

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