Celebrating Brussels

We've just recovered from a totally excellent FREE Jazz Marathon weekend put on by the city of Brussels. Highlights included two exciting open-air concerts which were very distant from what most people think of when they see the word 'Jazz', a too-fast but very fun rock 'n' roll dance lesson, and my sister-in-law suddenly joining in with a gig (it's OK, she's performed with the act before!).

So while I'm waiting for the Jazz Marathon photos, I've decided to focus on something else that Brussels can boast about: Art Nouveau.

The building in the photo on the left page has been covered with scaffolding ever since we took the photo, which was on the clearest day in January (2009). So glad we captured it when we did, because lately peeking through the scaffolding we can see the ironwork is now painted bright green....hmmm. The Art Nouveau graffiti in the photo on the right page is on the shutter of a shop in tourist central (in other words, it is hardly ever down, so we were lucky to catch it that day). I love its colour, and the way it exhibits simplicity yet also curvy, swirly beauty.

I spent a little time quilling for this double 20x20 page layout, but that is pretty much all it consists of. Except for the great photos, of course.

Modern Quilling

Quilling is weird. Rolling up loads of tiny strips of paper and sticking them together? Weird.
But I did do some quilling as a kid. It was basic - leaves and flowers and that was it.

Cut to today: thanks to Yulia Brodskaya, I find out there's a lot more you can do with these coloured strips of paper than just leaves and flowers. This is my first attempt at quilling since I was a child. Not perfect, but striking nonetheless.