Making Things From Stuff

New Year, New Me

2012-01-08T16:36:00.001Z

Well, it's been over 6 months since my last post and, to quote Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the face of all the world has changed I think.For quite a while now work has been ....... uncomfortable, and this intensified around the middle of last year (seems strange saying that!). This meant that i had very little spare time and when I did have some I wasn't in a very good place so didn't get any crafting done.Anyway, right at the end of the year I was head hunted! I was offered the post of Executive Assistant to the CEO of a group of companies, and so when I returned to work after the Christmas break I handed in my notice. I start my new post mid-February, and it's like a huge cloud has lifted! I am in a much better place now, so much so that I have actually made something this weekend! I used one of my fabby Christmas gifts, the caged bird die from his Holtziness the Tim, and I am blogging about it with my other fantastic prezzie - my iPad :0 so I'm not sure how this will work!

Wishing you all a Happy New Year x- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

I'm still alive !

2011-06-25T14:24:00.000+01:00

Bet you wondered about that! I haven't had any time, energy or mojo lately which is why I have been MIA.

My curiousity was piqued by all the smash book talk and then I found this in Paperchase:

The pages inside are lined, plain and graph paper plus these little beauties:

A clear plastic 4 pocket divider

A clear plastic single large pocket

This is quite a useful card pocket

and a lovely zipped pocket!

My idea was to open the wire binding, take out all the pages, make some of my own pages with PP etc, decorate the covers, then put it back together again. So far I have deconstructed it and decorated the front cover

I had some old world map wrapping paper so I stuck that to the inside with glossy accents so it showed through to the front. The atlas cover was from my stash and I fixed that to the outside of the cover.

Inside the front cover I painted the back of the map with some Honey Dew fresco finishes (love that paint), stamped some Artistic Stamper travel stamps over it then went to town with travel themed bits and bobs from my stash.

Once I've got around to sorting out what I'm using for my inside pages and puting it all back together it will be a travel journal (just in case you hadn't guessed!)

I found these fabby things in Muji:

I love the little hand paper clippy things, and the pen holder will be useful.

Anyway, at least I seem to have got my mojo back. All I need ow is a bit more time to get it all done!

Various bits and pieces

2011-05-15T14:16:00.000+01:00

I realise my blogging has been sporadic at best lately. I'm not in a very good place right now due to one thing or another (mainly one thing) but I won't bore you with that. Suffice to say my mojo is largely missing right now. I have not been idle though, gentle readers, perish the thought! I have been doing some bits and bobs of yarnery and stitchery that consists of following designs by other people thereby utilising their mojo while mine is off wandering.
I learned to knit and crochet when I was a child and have done most kinds of both crafts. One branch of knitting eluded me though... lace. I can crochet lace no problem but have never got around to even trying knitted lace (i.e. shetland/orenburg/estonian). My first attempt to rectify this lack was made 4 years ago during my chemo/radiotherapy treatments. Needless to say it did not go well! Trying to focus on new and complicated techiques while your brain is fried by chemical and radiation poisoning is not really a good idea. So, on clearing out some dark corners of storage cupboards I came across the patterns and yarn and decided to try again. Here is where I have got so far:

This is one a third pattern repeats of the edging, and there are 49 repeats in total for just the edging. It's taken me over a week to get this far, so I figure at least a year just to comlete the edge. I think I'm doing ok, although I think the vine pattern may have gone adrift a couple of times by the look of it! It is intended to be the Magikal Earth Shawl by Sandy Terp and this is how the finished article should look

I have a long way to go! In the meantime I found the level of focus and concentration needed for lace knitting was so high that I needed something simple to fit in between, so I took up the crochet hook and did a simple shrug for DD which I completed just yesterday

Finally I did get around to some papercrafting. I decided I needed somewhere to keep cards I had made. I had intended to use an empty cereal packet but DD had a tidy session and threw them all away! I therefore scoured the net and found a tutorial from Inking Idaho which almost fit the bill. I wanted something a bit bigger though so I started with some 12 x 12 cardstock then covered it with some old K & Co papers from my stash

So, lots of little bits and pieces keeping me out of mischief. Hopefully my mojo will come home soon and I can get really inky and messy!
Hope everyone is keeping well x

Playing with Art Parts

2011-05-07T18:27:00.000+01:00

Inspired by the gorgeous sample THE Linda Elbourne had on her demo station at Ally Pally I bought the Studio 490 Art Parts Cake Stand. I've finally managed to have a play and made this for my DD

Wren is her family nickname, and she loves playing scrabble, so using the tiles was and obvious choice. The "vase" of flowers was inspired by this genius idea from the wonderful Lin Brown, I just shaped the grungepaper fringe to make the leaves a bit more spiked then added some tiny lilies. Here is the back view

I needed something to cover the frame at the back of the mini canvas so it looked ok from all angles. I just coloured up a piece of paper, stuck that on the back then used and image of Peter Rabbit and his cousin Benjamin Bunny (regular visitors may recall DD is a big fan).

Thanks for visiting x

Here he is.......

2011-05-01T14:59:00.000+01:00

the fairy elephant in his magical glade in a cage! He's a bit shy, so it's difficult to take photographs, but if you look closely you can see him wandering around in amongst the prima vines and flowers.
He was a decopatch elephant and I gave him a coat of eco paint in Ocean as a base then blasted him with every glimmer and shimmer mist I owned (that didn't have a clogged valve), then stuck some wings from a butterfly I had in my stash (yes I pulled the wings off a butterfly but, to be fair, one of them had already fallen off anyway).
My DDs bought the cage for my birthday last year and I have been gathering bits for it ever since.
Here is a top view

I found some stuff in a model shop that was for making landscapes for train sets and used that for the base, it started out green and I covered it with flower soft, glitter and some bling and Prima pebbles. I used some mirror card surrounded by moss as a pond, and then went mad with Prima vines and glimmer misted flowers.

Here's a glimpse inside with the lid open.

and this is the "sun" made with a t!m rosette and a CI image.

Had loads of fun making this :)

Hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine today x

Another DD birthday

2011-04-29T14:38:00.000+01:00

Yep, their birthdays are only 2 weeks apart. In fact, for the past two weeks they have been the same age as there is only 11 and a half months between them (yes, I am mad, are you only just realising this?) Anyway, here is eldest DDs birthday card

This is taken from THE Wendy Vecchi first book (as that is the only one I own!). I used some handmade paper I found in Paperchase and added a second butterfly as the paper was a bit too big. The matting is horrible I know. Matting is not in my skill set I'm afraid, but luckily the paper has a ragged edge and I distressed the edges of the mats a bit too so it doesn't look too bad.

I am now off to continue work on my fairy elephant......... all will be revealed in due time my pretties!

Kaisercraft Paperartsy style

2011-04-10T22:07:00.000+01:00

DDs got me the Kaisercraft desk organiser for mother's day last week, so I've been putting it together today using my PaperArtsy Thorndon Hall papers

The sheet music isn't Thorndon Hall, it's something random from my stash, and the piece just above the three drawers isn't covered in paper. That has a coat of the new Fresco Finish in London Midnight, then a thin layer of the crackle glaze followed by a coat of Vintage Lace. It's magic! It's so simple, no worrying about how long to leave between coats or anything, just let the crackle dry (or dry it with a heat gun) then put on the top coat and the crackles appear. Here's a close up, the crackles really are amazing

I stamped a bird from each of the three new PaperArtsy stamp plates I bought yesterday straight on top with black archival. It takes the image like a dream.
Now I just have to get organised enough to put stuff in the organiser!

Ally Pally

2011-04-10T16:05:00.000+01:00

Had a great time yesterday at Ally Pally. Not having any craft stores anywhere nearby it's good to get to actually see all the stash in person and watching the demos is really inspiring. Managed to spend a huge sum and buy loads of stuff. Here's a peek

I had snaffled this huge basket that DDs had filled with bath stufff at Christmas for stuff I needed to sort out. I managed to fill it one go with my Ally Pally spree. My new pal, Freyered ( my PIF from the uber talented Donna) was so amazed she came to get a better look!

I bought lots of things that weren't on my shopping list, including some Art Parts after seeing what THE Linda Elbourne had done with them. Jennie had a geat deal on some Wendy Vecchi stamps as well as some really gorgeous new stamps, and I just had to get some of the new PaperArtsy Fresco Finishes after seeing Lin demo them, especially the crackle glaze!

Saw quite a few amazing people, including Alison, Minxy and Helen but alas did not manage to find Carmen. I think she was hiding from me :(

Anyway, am off now to play. Hope everyone is having a good weekend and enjoying the fabulous weather x

At Last!

2011-04-03T16:17:00.000+01:00

I finally got some time for me! Not a lot of time, and not a huge project, but it feels good to have finally made something again.... a card for my youngest DDs birthday in a couple of weeks

She may be all "grown up" but she still loves Peter Rabbit so I used a puffy sticker of him on the card, the rest is Fairy Flora background papers and graphic 45 stamps. Unfortunately the camera flash bounced off the sticker so you can't see it. Here it is on it's own but very blurry! My camera skills leave much to be desired!

Anyway. it's great to make something again after such a long time. Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Chaos and Confusion

2011-03-27T14:04:00.000+01:00

I can't beleive it has been 3 weeks since my last post! Work has been insane I have been peeling myself off the mattress in the morning, slogging through the day then coming home and collapsing in a heap. I haven't done any crafting and have barely been online.
So, this post is just to say I am still alive! I'm away with work for the first half of this week, but hopefully things will settle down a bit after that and I can get my life back! In the meantime I miss everyone and look forward to catching up with you all soon x

Alice Pocket Watch

2011-03-06T17:33:00.000Z

So the next lesson in Zuzu's workshop was pocket watches and I went with an Alice in Wonderland theme.

I know, the pictures are terrible! It looks much better in real life, honest! If you haven't joined Zuzu's workshop yet, you should! The lessons are really clear and easy to follow and the results are amazing.

A new month crept up on me!

2011-03-05T11:39:00.000Z

Been really busy at work this week so not had time to upload my completed February pages until now

managed to stay pretty much up to date again this month, and even did the basic colourwash backgrounds for all the months and bound them with the BIA. March is shaping up to be very hectic so it will be a bit more of a challenge to keep up I think.
Thanks for looking, I'm enjoying looking at everyone elses pages and picking up lots of inspiration :)

Pay it Forward update

2011-02-27T18:00:00.000Z

So, off I went to the post office yesterday with my neatly wrapped parcels (ok, not exactly "neatly" wrapped, but what I lack in wrapping skills I make up for with bubble wrap and packing tape!). They are now all on their merry way to their new owners but...... being a bear of very little brain, I wrapped them without putting any notes in with them. Just so you can all identify these mystry parcels I thought it best to show what I sent:

This is on it's way to Tammy . It's my first adventure in wax collage!

This one is on it's way to Anne/Liverpool Lou and was inspired by the paper blending article in the March issue of Craft Stamper, with a bit of influence from Gustav Klimt.

This little lady is making her way to Amy .

This paperartsy/artsy crafts inspired hanging is on it's way to Louise/Zuzu

And finally, this is on it's way to Carmen

Domino (sort of)

2011-02-20T14:34:00.000Z

Look what I made!
It's a domino pendant (only I couldn't find my domino so I used a bit of something that I found in my stash that is about the length of a domino but only half the width and just about 1mm thick)
If you want to know how I made it then you will have to find out the same way I did, by signing up for Zuzu's workshop here . I love her style and now she is running these workshops at an incredible price so I snapped up the offer! Officially they don't start until March 1st but Louise has got the first lesson out already.

On a different subject, I have made all my Pay It Forwards, and I am planning to get them all packed up ready for posting this weekend. I have the day off on Wednesday so I can hopefully get to the post office then and get them all sent off.

Paying it Forward update

2011-02-12T21:20:00.000Z

So, I've been busy the past couple of weeks with work and stuff, and all my spare time has been put into making my 5 handmade items for Pay it Forward . It's been fun, but also a bit nerve wracking! I didn't expect anyone to want any of my stuff, let alone 5 people!

I have tried out some new techniques and worked outside of my comfort zone and generally tried to make things I hope the recipients will enjoy. All five pieces are now made and ready to be packed up and sent on their way. Here are a few sneak peeks:

I've waxed (yes, the melt pot finally got used!), embossed, die-cut, painted and textured away like crazy and I am fairly happy with the end results.

Anyway, I will be packing up my handiwork and sending them off to their new homes during the coming week, and I hope you are all happy with them.

January's over!

2011-01-31T19:17:00.000Z

I've had fun with this and have managed to keep up to date (well, ok, there was once or twice I had to catch up)! So far so good, one month down, 11 more to go :)

A thing with wings

2011-01-30T15:20:00.000Z

I have had a mini tin sitting around for a while now, and then I got t!m's rosette die which gave me a vague idea (yes, I know, all my ideas are vague!). Then I saw this month's Artistic Stamper challenge and got a further idea. After delays and a lot of dithering and dathering and boring work, I finally got around to making something:

Is it a tin? Is it a butterfly? Is it a fairy? Your guess is as good as mine LOL. I coloured the outside with Stream alcohol ink then stuck on some bits of old dictionary pages. Texture on the tin was made by splodging on some moulding paste that I had first coloured with some acrylic paint. I then sprinkled on some different coloured embossing powders and heated it all to melt the EP and bubble up the moulding paste. An Ideology hitch fastener made a good handle for opening so inside..........

I used some Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante papers (love, love, love that range!) and added a bingo counter spritzed with glimmer mists, an old cloissone earring and a flattened gold bead cap. I also smeared some stickled around because you can never have enough sparkly stuff.

The "head" is made from a rosette die cut from paper from the Lost and Found stack with a face from the Steampunk Debutante collection.

The wings are grungeboard shapes I found in my stash and covered with the same paper as I used for the rosette. I edged them with Broken China DI then embossed the edges with some holographic EP to give a bit of sparkle, and used a rose cut from the Steampunk papers to hide the joins. I then added a bit more stickles to add more sparkle.

Anyway, whatever it is, it has wings so it qualifies for the challenge, and it is just before the end of January so I'm in time to submit this for the January Things With Wings challenge.

Pay it Forward

2011-01-16T16:08:00.000Z

I actually didn't like the movie... I am an old softie really and I do not find it in any way uplifting or entertaining when children suffer or die, I just get very depressed. Anyway I digress! I heard about this over on Doone's blog and thought I would join in.
The idea is I promise something handmade to the FIRST 5 people who leave a comment here. However, to be eligible, you must repost this status, offering something handmade to 5 other people. The rules are that it must be handmade (or homemade) by you and it must be sent to your 5 people some time in 2011.

Now the fact of the matter is, I doubt there are 5 people who want anything handmade by me!! LOL My taste is.. unique.. to say the least. Some might say wierd, and they would be right, and some might say bad, and they would probably be right too :o However, I promise that if there are 5 of you who want something made by me I will make you something as nice as I can (and I promise it won't be as insane as ole King Green Bottle, ok!). Can't promise it will be fast either, because I don't have a huge amount of spare time, but it will be done.
So, first five comments get something handmade by me as long as they post on their blog that they will do the same. Simples!

It's Winter, OK?!!

2011-01-08T12:42:00.000Z

So, I had an idea to make a set of canvases for the four seasons. The first would be winter, as that is the season we are in now. Here is the first one:

I think of blues and white when I think of winter, so I blended in various shades of blue acrylic paint for the background and then used a stencil and some white paint in the corners. I then went over the whole thing with some white mica spray to give it sort of "frosty" sparkle. As Christmas comes in winter I used the fronts of the cards I made for DDs, plus some snow flakes and a few other wintery and christmasy bits and pieces. The title is a tag covered in TSS metal and put through the 'bug. I cut out the three winter months from t!ms Lost and Found stack and stuck those in the bottom corner. I edged the whole thing with tissue tape (mainly to hide the messy edges!)
When I showed it to my DDs they said "Oh, it's a Christmas decoration". Ummm... NO!! It's WINTER, not Christmas. Just because it has some Christmas stuff on it, doesn't make it a Christmas decoration!
Anyway, hope everyone has got through the first week of 2011 safely. First week back at work for me :(

Too much time on my hands?

2010-12-30T20:39:00.000Z

What happens when an insane person is left to her own devices with a Kaisercraft bookstand and some things to make stuff?.......

This is the King Green Bottle, the evil sorcerer king.

This is where he hangs out, his lair if you will, where he does the kind of nefarious stuff that evil sorcerer kings do.

So here is King Green Bottle hanging out in his lair, while upstairs the Little Prince (that's his name, he came in a Christmas cracker with a label saying so) has crept in and freed the freaky looking princess that King Green Bottle had captured (in a bottle, of course!).

I had fun making this LOL so yes, I read too many fantasy novels, yes, I have too much time on my hands at the moment and yes, I am way over the madness horizon and accelerating. Your point is.........?

Hope everyone had the best Christmas (I had a great time just relaxing and spending time with my DDs) and that 2011 brings you all that you could wish for xx

Snow is falling

2010-12-19T14:49:00.000Z

Well, not actually falling at the moment, but it has been falling and is now sitting there looking menacing! The worst of it fell yesterday, but luckily I had headed home early on Friday as, once a few flakes of snow fall the whole of the rail network grinds to a halt. I managed to get my grocery shopping done on the way home so I haven't needed to go out during the heavy snow. So, I have spent the weekend making cards for my two DDs. The first one is obviously based on t!m's tag. I changed the colours, used a musical stamp instead of script, used the whole of the Townscape die and added some Snowtex to the houses, plus a couple of trees to fill up the space at the edge.

The second one just sort of evolved. I started with a paper napkin with a Santa on that I wanted to use. Once that had dried and been trimmed I gave it a wash of Mushroom Eco paint and some mica powder then wondered what to do next! I finally decided on using some PaperArtsy bauble stamps on some chipboard I had coloured with Inca Gold and Viva Precious Metal, cut these out and attached them with ribbon underneath a Basic Grey chipsticker. It looks much sparklier in real life.

Scary thing, these are the last two cards I needed to make, so I am all finished with almost a week to go!! I have also decorated the cake, tidied the living room and put up the Christmas decorations. I am obviously a pod person and the real me has been kidnapped by aliens :o

Ah well, four more work days to go (I don't have to work on
Christmas Eve).... maybe the snow will come back tonight and I will be snowed in :)

Hope everyone is keeping warm and safe.

Tag 10

2010-12-12T11:52:00.000Z

I know, what happened to the tags between?! Well, snow melted so I had no more excuses to stay home so had to go in to work :(. Anyway, I have been printing off the destructions and saving them so I can play later. However, I had to make a christmas card for a dog (don't ask!) and Tag 10 seemed to fit the bill, with a bit of adaptation (a black dog instead of a white snowman for a start) so here it is:

Didn't have anything t!m used this time, so I improvised. The pine tree stamp is at least a t!m stamp! So this is little black dog playing in the snow at Christmas - or maybe incased in ice, depending on your point of view.
I've had fun playing along when I could. Next year maybe I should take two weeks off work so I can play every day! Everyone has made some amazing creations and the different improvisations have been stunning and as inspiring as t!m's original creations. Same time, same place, next year :)

Interlude

2010-12-05T16:22:00.000Z

For some reason I couldn't get going on Tag 5 today, my t!m mojo went missing :( Instead I made a birthday card that I have been putting off for a while. Inspiration struck and I set to work putting it all together:

I did all the stamping (PaperArtsy Hot Picks) in Aged Mahogany DI, Coffee and Jet Black Archival, and was quite pleased with the result. The background paper is a sort of linen colour and the colours really went well together. Stuck the lace trim on the bottom, mounted the whole thing onto the card blank, inked up the Birthday Wishes stamp with Aged Mahogany and stamped it.... UPSIDE DOWN!!!! It looked beautiful, except for the greeting being up the wrong way :o
Did some quick thinking and cut a nestie label from the left over background paper, stamped again onto that (the right way up!) and mounted that over the mistake. Only problem then was it covered part of the top of the thistle, so I rummaged through my stash and found some Prima flowerage in a suitable colour and stuck that in the right place. Phew! I don't think anyone will notice, as long as you guys promise not to tell!

Tag 1

2010-12-04T19:29:00.000Z

So I decided to make the tag from day 1 instead today. I didn't have the rickety house die so I downloaded a Maya Road template and cut that out of chipboard. I didn't have the texture fade so I added texture by using molding paste and heating it till it went lumpy bumpy. I didn't have the on the edge picket fence die (are we seeing a pattern here?!) so I downloaded a fence pattern from the internet and hand cut that out of grungeboard. After all this I noticed the house template was rather large. Too large for a tag, or even a card, so it has become a wall hanging!

I used my trusty Maya Road branch from day 3 for my tree, and the background is paper from the K&Co Winter Wonderland stack. I couldn't find anything to make a wreath so I used a metal embellishment from my stash that fit the bill. I decided to decorate inside the window by using some paper that looked like wallpaper, stamping a christmas tree on it then decorating the tree with adhesive gems and a star so it looks like there is a decorated tree inside the window. I used fun flock and mica powder for the snow. For some reason I can't find my white glitter.

If you want to look at everyone's interpretations of the tags and post yours for us all to share, pop over to Arty Jen blog and join in.

The Finished Article

2010-12-04T11:09:00.000Z

Taking a break from t!m's tags today. I love the tag he has made, and I really, really want that trim from Michael's, but I don't have any of the materials (except a Prima flourish) and nothing I can improvise with, so I am going to sit this one out. Instead I will entertain you with the final episode of the display box:

Here it is finally finished! The flash bounced off the glass a bit, so I took another shot without flash, but that didn't show the colours properly:

and here's another peek inside.

I'm pleased with how it turned out :)

Tag 3

2010-12-03T21:38:00.000Z

on day 3... it's a miracle!

So it's a card again, and this time the only things I had were tissue tape and a memo pin! The bird is Maya Road chipboard and I just couldn't find a suitable stamp so I improvised and drew around a Maya Road chipboard branch.
No adventures today, just stayed in, kept warm and played.... bliss :)

t!m's No. 2

2010-12-03T10:40:00.000Z

Twelve days tag that is!! I have religiously printed off every single one of the Twelve Tags from his lordship's blog every year and saved them all in a lever arch file (having to start a new one this year as the other one is too full!), but this is the first time I have actually done one!!! I have used the techniques and tips but have never actually made one. So.... drum roll please... here is my take on day 2 of The Twelve Tags of Christmas 2010:

I didn't actually have any of the right stamps, or the right DI's (other than Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany and Walnut Stain), but hey, there's a branch and a greeting and a flourish and a bird!! What's more, the greeting and the flourish are actually t!m stamps... just not the right ones. I flicked some water on the tag after I blended the background DI's just because I like it that way, and I mounted the finished tag onto a card because I felt like it.

I am having a snow day at home today :) Yesterday I made it in to the office (nobody else did!) and collected some work to do at home (which, as you can see, I am not doing LOL) then set off for home. I got on a train at Surbiton at 12.46pm for the journey to Clapham Junction which usually takes 15minutes. The train got to Clapham Junction at 14.48!!! 2 hours!! Worse part? No loo on the train. Now bear in mind I am a 51 year old woman who has given birth 3 times and had pelvic radiotherapy and brachiotherapy for cervical cancer.... bladder control is not in my skill set any longer! Fortunately Clapham Junction has a large deparment store close to the station with decent toilet facilities so that was where I headed as soon as I got off the train! No way am I attempting to get in today.... not without a catheter anyway, lol.

Hope everyone is safe and warm today!

Back to WOYWW at last

2010-11-24T10:04:00.000Z

I finally have a few minutes free to join back in with the WOYWW fun, woohoo! For those of you who don't know about this internet craze... where have you been?! Hop on over to Julia's blog and check it out, it's fun, it's free and it's addictive!
So, my free time is fairly limited (I am meant to be working right now!) so I snapped a quick pic of my desk with my phone this morning as I was on my way out the door. The quality is not good, which is probably for the best, and those of you of a nervous disposition may want to look away now. Here it is.....

...eeeeeek!! In my defense, I have barely had enough time to do any crafting let alone tidy up after myself. Mind you, it is a mess, isn't it, even for me? I have managed to do a bit to my display box thingy. I've been playing with that Clearly For Art type stuff that you can stamp and colour then heat and mould. I've nearly finished it, I just think it needs something else on the outside there, but not sure what just yet.

Off now to actually do some work before my boss notices I'm not actually typing up a design spec right now :o Catch you all later.. Happy Wednesday x

Celebrate!

2010-11-22T20:48:00.000Z

Firstly I am celebrating this gorgeous ATC from Donna . It arrived late last week but I haven't had time to blog it until now. Isn't it fabulous? There is so much going on and she is just beautiful! Donna says this is how she sees me, which is very flattering (and I looove my hat :)) This ATC is one of a set to celebrate Donna's first 50 followers, so if you were one, get on over there and request your very own piece of art.

Second is my celebration spread in my willowing altered book. This is the second part of week 3 (this is my 5th week ... I'm a bit behind!). I now have an empathy monster to make as the final part of week 3, then on to week 5. The background is all lovely and grungy and dimensional and, as I have used some cosmic shimmer mists, very sparkly - none of which shows in the pic :o

So, Christmas is fast approaching (eeeeeek!). Is everybody all ready and organised? Nah, me neither!!

Art Heart Healing week 3

2010-11-15T10:18:00.001Z

on week 4! ok, ok, so I'm behind with my willowing but I was away all last week and didn't even get to watch the videos until Friday! Here is my front cover. Messing with the photo was fun, a sort of guilty pleasure actually scratching and painting on a photograph!. Yes, it is me, but about 10 years ago! I've written on the tag on both sides.

It kind of sums up what being me is all about, falling over a lot LOL.

So, I still have to do my celebration spread, and make my empathy monster.... I might manage to get the spread done through the week, but I think the sewing machine monster will have to wait until next weekend! I am really getting a lot from this course in terms of healing, which I didn't think I would, and in terms of technique. Tam really is an amazing person and her generosity in doing all this work for free is astounding. I'm loving every minute of it and will be signing up for the Mythical Creatures course as soon as registration opens.

Another week over

2010-11-14T17:48:00.000Z

...and what have I done. Well, I've been away for most of it with work, exhibiting at a conference in Bournemouth and trying very hard not to get blown in to the sea (when I wasn't trying hard not to be bored to death!). All in all a very dangerous week. Got home late on Thursday, then had loads of catching up to do on Friday in the office.

Over the weekend I have managed to do some crafting. Here are a couple of gift bags I made. This first one started out as a green bag, and it's still a green bag!! It was originally a dark, flat green which I spritzed with Peacock Green shimmer mist so it's now very sparkly (which doesn't really show in the pic). I coloured some grunge paper with Peeled Paint DI, then spritzed it with the same shimmer mist. After that I stamped t!m's reindeer with versamark and embossed with gold then cut him out and attached him to the bag. I put the gift inside, folded over the top of the bag, made a couple of holes with the Crop-a-dile and tied with green ribbon.

This second one started out as a plain brown take away bag. I covered it with Fired Brick DI then spritzed it with Red Firefly shimmer mist. After that I stamped t!m's snowflake flurry in versamark and embossed in white. The snowman (t!m's) was stamped onto grungepaper that had been coloured with Fired Brick in versamark and embossed in white as well. He was cut out and stuck to the front of the bag too. The gift isn't in this one yet, because it is still a bit damp from all the shimmer mist spritzing so it might split if I don't let it dry out properly first!. Once it is dry I will put the gift in and then seal up the top with some ribbon (it's for my daughter and she will peek if I don't make sure it is sealed up securely!)

Well, conference/exhibition season is over for the year, so things should be a bit less hectic for a while at work, thank goodness! Hopefully I can get some more "me" time for crafting.
Hope everyone has been having a good weekend.

Where have I been?

2010-11-07T16:18:00.000Z

I've no idea! Turning the clocks back seems to have stolen my life, I have no clue what has happened to the past week. Anyway, last post I promised to report back "on Sunday" on the 2 Scrap Ladies card marathon. I didn't say which Sunday though, did I?! So here I am, a week late.

I had a really good time, met Julia in person which was fab, and Lunch Lady Jan's cakes and lunch were superb. Made a total of 17 cards which you can see here and genenerally had a creative, chatty, great time with lots of lovely people. I also feel a lot more confident about making cards now.

Apart from wondering what time it is this week (always seems to be at least one clock in the house that doesn't get altered every time and sits there waiting to confuse everyone!) I have been continuing with the Art Heart Healing course (button over on the right) which is free and absolutely fantastic. Tam is really not skimping on the content on this course even though it is free, and I recommend it to everyone. Seriously, try it!

Week 2 was to image transfer a photo of myself as a young child. Yep, that is and yes, they did have cameras way back then! Then we wrote some good wishes for ourselves and collaged these on to the page. This was done in an altered board book rather than in our art journals like the first week.

Week 3 was in the same board book on the next page to make Whimsey characters and collage them into a scene. Not too happy with this. I think kitty may be covered up with something else, and I may play around with it some more, but it's done for now.

So, I am up to date for the next lesson which goes up tomorrow. Not going to have much time to do it though because I am off to another conference with work, this time in Bournemouth, from Tuesday to Thursday. Yuck! Still, after that things might settle down a bit, and I might even get around to taking some leave, YAY!

Have a good week everyone.

It's been a while...

2010-10-28T20:27:00.001+01:00

...since I did anything with my art journal. Actually it's been a while since I made a blog post! Work has been a bit manic and I have been too tired to do much of anything. Last weekend I found this amazing free course by the wonderful Tam over on the Willowing ning network, so this is what I have been doing

I am finding the class very cathartic and healing so far. Maybe that's because I am in the right place for it right now, or maybe it's because it is just a very good class.

Anyway, I like her. She is meant to represent me, but I still like her anyway, lol. (what is wrong with Mr Blogger today? It has taken me forever to upload this pic!)

On Saturday I am off to play making Christmas cards with the fearless leader of the WOYWWers, Julia which is going to be so much fun! I'm not really a card maker so I am hoping to pick up lots of tips and tricks and have a great time. I will report back on Sunday!

Happy Friday for tomorrow everyone.

WOYWW 13th October

2010-10-13T00:03:00.001+01:00

It's Wednesday, which means it's time to hop on over to Julia's Blog, link in and join the fun.
I have to apologise, last Wednesday a work colleague was taken ill and I had to accompany him to the hospital and wait for his wife to show up and take over, so I didn't get around many desks, and those I did I was very late commenting on.

Anyway, since last Wednesday I have continued to work on my display box and here is the progress so far. I carried on spraying shimmer mists and blending on inks until I was happy with the result, then I started on the backgrounds for the niches. Most of the smaller 2" squares have papers from the Vintage Shabby paper stack, some stamped and others left nekkid. The larger niches I just inked and stamped plain white cardstock. I've been adding bits and pieces from my ephemera stash gradually. The blue taxi is stolen from one of DDs board games. I was after a silver car from a monopoly set but they didn't have one :( So I purloined a blue plastic taxi and spruced it up a bit with blue Inca Gold. The rock with the frog on it in the top left niche is something the kids brought me when they went on a school trip to the Natural History Museum years ago. The little figures in the bottom left niche were my gran's. I think they are lead! The Paper Artsy button badge was given to me at by l!n Brown at Ally Pally. The rest is just general stuff I had in my stash that I have either purchased or found over time.
I still have a few bits to add and a couple of things to finish off, then it will be time to concentrate on the outside. It might be finished next Wednesday for a final show and tell :)
Happy Wednesday everyone, looking forward to visiting your desks!

WOYWW 6th October

2010-10-06T00:57:00.001+01:00

Hello all you WOYWWers - and for those who aren't or who don't know what it is check out Julia's Blog and link yourself in. It's fun to nose around everyone's workspace and get inspired.

Anywhoo, what is on my workdesk...... lots of stuff! I'm working on this display box thingy that has sat nekkid and neglected for well over a year - probably nearer two!! I've given it a coat of gesso (sorry Doone, I had to do it!) and now I'm layering up some grungy inkyness (which is why all the distress inks are scattered around). The flash has bleached a lot of it out, but there is some colour going on there. Various shades of grunge (scattered straw, antique linen, brushed corduroy, weathered wood) and a few shimmer mists and various mini-mister concoctions of mica, ink and water. I'm just spraying, dabbing, wiping and splodging different things and building up the layers so it looks suitably old and grungy and lovely. Once I feel it's ready I'll start putting some backgrounds in the different niches and some bits of ephemera and various stuff. There's a pile of stuff I've earmarked for this project just to the right of the desk.
Oh, you can see I've been playing with my Tim Holtz tattered leaves as well :)
Happy Wednesday everyone.

Page 12 of 12

2010-10-03T17:07:00.000+01:00

I've finished the final page of my postage stamp/tag book and put it all together with some bits. Here is page 12 which, to be honest, has sat around for a week. I used a Crafters Workshop template and antique gold ferro all over the shape, then, when the ferro was dry, spritzed it with some gold and copper cosmic shimmer mists. I smeared some Inca Gold in Old Gold and Green/yellow on the leaf parts, and then I looked at it for a week wondering what to do with it next before deciding it was fine as it was! I cut a couple of Tattered Leaves from the Tim Holtz Alteration die and inked and sprayed them to look suitably autumnal, then added some shrink plastic charms and a bead I found that had the right colouring to match in.

Here it is from the front with all the pages fanned out.

And here it is from the back.

It's been fun.... I've got loads of old CDs I might make into a book with the BIA next!

Boxing Day

2010-10-02T18:05:00.000+01:00

Hi everyone. I've been MIA for most of the week. Busy week at work and a conference to attend. Anyway, some of you WOYWW may recall a couple of gessoed boxes from a couple of weeks ago. Well this is how they have turned out. I am going to put some little things in them for DDs for Christmas.... yes, I used the 'C' word!
This one is for DD2 and had a coat of Transparent Red Oxide acrylic paint over it before having some decopatch paper stuck over the outside and a few images from the same paper on the inside. I then gave the whole thing another watery coat of the Transparent red oxide then did the Krylon pen thing around the edges and the Inca Gold around the lid.

I really love this japanese paper! Anyway, a coat of glossy decopatch glue (a bit like mod podge or gel medium) and we were done.

The second one for DD1 was done the same way, except the Tranparent Red Oxide looked a bit orange next to the pink so I went over it with Mushroom, and I used some Viva Precious Metal pink instead of the gold krylon.

I'm quite pleased with how they have turned out :)

Hope everyone is having a good weekend (despite the horrible weather). Anyone been to the Artisan show? Wish it was a bit nearer to me so I could go, mind you, after the massive spend at Ally Pally it's probably best!

Ally Pally...

2010-09-25T19:06:00.000+01:00

...was packed! I arrived at at 9.30am and sat and had a coffee, and the queue was right the way across the palm court entrance hall and round the side corridor! I have never seen it that busy before. I waited until the queue had gone down before going in to the hall, and it was heaving. Usually for the first hour or so you can move around the stands a bit, but not this time. So much for the recession! Anyway, spent waaay too much, as usual. Here is my haul .

I stopped by the LB Crafts stall and saw the amazing Julia Roberts lookalike Linda E and the fantastic l!n Brown doing amazing demos (and spent some money). Linda was talking to Cardarian. How amazing is that? WOYWW is everywhere!

Jennie's Tag

I then wandered over to The Artistic Stamper stand and watched Jennie doing some amazing things with the melt pot. She made a tag which she gave me :) The leaf shape was die cut from some fab plastic stuff that isn't acetate which she dipped in the UTEE and stamped then heated slightly with a heat tool which made it pliable enough to bend in to shape which is kept when it cooled... amazing or what!! So I had to have some of that, plus some of the new stamps.... I actually love this background stamp here.... should have got that one too. Guess I'll have to do some online shopping! I managed to spend over £25 (what a suprise) so I got one of their fab grunge roses too

Jennie's Grunge Rose

Isn't it beautiful. This one was made by Jennie too. I bumped in to Alison watching Hels doing make and takes, but the hall was so crowded we didn't get a chance to do much other than wave and say hello! Later on I did pop back to the stand (and spent some more money) and it was a bit quieter then so I did one of the make and takes

Make & Take with Hels

So not only did I get to shop, but I got inky and messy too! What more could you want?!

Visited quite a few other stands too (Scrap Revolution, Art From The Heart - Dyan looked great and was doing amazing art journal pages - Lavinia Stamps to name but a few). There was also a Decopatch stand there which I hadn't seen at Ally Pally before, which was useful as I was thinking about using some decopatch papers on a couple of things.

Lin's Tag

I wandered back over to the LB Crafts stand and, while Linda E skived off for a while, poor l!n was left alone demoing her little heart out. She made me this fabulous creation - isn't it stunning? I also got my mucky paws on one of the Paper Artsy button badges too :) I bumped in to Helen while I was watching the demo and we had a brief chat... she was laden with bags of stash as usual!

I was spent out by this time, and a bit washed out too - got the remains of some nasty throat lurgy hanging around - so I headed off to the bus and made my way home to stroke my new stash :)

Had a great time. The thing I love most about Ally Pally is the inspiration. Watching the demos and seeing the samples really gets the ideas buzzing and makes you think of new ways to use your stash.

Off now to stroke my stash some more!

WOYWW 22nd Sept

2010-09-22T00:41:00.001+01:00

Wednesday again, so time to hop on over to Julia's Blog log in and wander round the desks of the creative blogosphere.

Usual here, bit tidier than normal I think! Some brilliance inks I've been playing with, and a few shrink plastic charms I have made, plus a couple of boxes for altering that have had a coat of gesso (sorry Doone!) and are now drying..... not sure what the next step is yet, still thinking about that! Yes, I know the tag on my easel is upside down... it was put there in a hurry in an effort to tidy up a bit for company!

So.... what is this that sits behind me at the foot of my bed? Well, it used to be a toy box when the kids were small and now.........

It has MY toys in it. Lots of stuff to alter... should keep me busy for a while LOL!

Happy Wednesday everyone.

A bit of a make-over

2010-09-19T16:06:00.000+01:00

I decided to give my blog a make-over. I loved the original template but as it was pre-designed it was a bit limiting in what I could do with it. So I played around for a while, then I found a fabulous site Blogger Sentral which has all kinds of amazing tips and tricks to customize your blog. After browsing around Blogger Sentral for a while, I realised I wanted an image for my header, so I made a tag.

The more observant among you may realise this is slightly different to the actual header up there. This is because I stamped the corn advert on to it afterwards! I coloured a tag with Wild Honey DI which I then splashed with some water to give some interest. I then played with my Paper Artsy HP1009 plate and stamped the flower head and the birdies in the grass also in wild honey. I then stamped the flower head again on some card colourd with wild honey and spritzed with gold shimmer mist with Coffee archival. I then cut out the flowers and layered them on to the tag. I finished off with some Crafty Individuals birds then photographed it for the blog header. I then added the Shepard Corn stamp and now I am entering it to the Sunday Stampers challenge week 121. The theme is movies, so this is Children of the Corn... or maybe The Birds, I'll let Hels decide, lol

WOYWW - Flotsam and Jetsam

2010-09-15T01:29:00.002+01:00

If you want to know why I am showing my very messy desk, hop on over to our fearless leader Julia's blog to join the WOYWW club.
So, here is the debris left from my crafting. The strange lady with the giant flower on her head was going to go on my wall hanging thingy from the last post, but I decided against her in the end, so back to the "interesting images and other stuff" box... when I get around to tidying away that is. Not sure why I have 3 pairs of scissors out, nor what I was planning on doing with the string. Anway, there's all sorts of stuff laying about, chipboard letters, packets of beads, unmounted rubber stamps waiting to be mounted (yuck! hate that job), paints, glues, tissue tape, a paper stump, a file... it's a bit like the generation game, lol. There's also a reel of invisible thread at the back there - though you may not be able to see that (ha-ha!).
Happy Wednesday everybody

Steampunk?

2010-09-13T20:18:00.001+01:00

Not sure what qualifies as steampunk to be honest. I know what steampunk literature is, but not really clear in terms of artwork.
Anyway, this was inspired by l!n's post here (I know, it doesn't look much like it, but then I'm not in her league!) I loved it, but didn't have any of the materials, so I used a large chip shape I had, and the Tim masks I did have and started from there. The bird and flowers at the bottom are from some napkins I bought at The Craft Barn on Saturday, the colours matched perfectly so I layered up some images from one of those, and I used some tissue tape at the top... first time I've used that and I am in love!! Because I had used the timeworks masks, the sprocket gears and game spinners fitted perfectly. A couple of the images from the Steampunk Debutante stack matched with the colour scheme (and the sprocket gear theme), and the image of the strange woman hugging the tree is from a sheet of vintage images I found in my stash (another drunken shopping spree I guess!)
I'm quite pleased with it, whatever it is anyway.
So... who managed to get their Tim tickets then?

Purple Haze

2010-09-12T13:33:00.000+01:00

Mr Blogger has not been playing nicely lately! For the past couple of days he has been telling me "service unavailable" whenever I try to get to my dashboard or when I try to comment on anyone elses blog. He seems to have let me get to my dashboard today on my third attempt, so maybe this post will appear!
Went to The Craft Barn Extravaganza yesterday and blew lots of dosh (I really shouldn't be let anywhere near stash with money in my purse!). One of the things I bought was a Spellbinder butterfly die which you can see here. After watching the demo for Viva Papersoft I had to have some, so got a couple of colours as well as a paper pen and applicators. I played with those earlier and made this card... yes, another card!

I've also used some Inca Gold on this card, which was another purchase yesterday (got three pots). I wish they would sell it in smaller pots because it goes a long way and there are so many gorgeous colours that it would be easier on the old bank balance if the pots were half the size at least!
I had a list, which I stuck to in so far as I bought what was on the list... but then I made a few impulse purchases as well, including the Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante paper pad... well how could I resist? I had Hot Pick 1006 on my list, but I got 1009 instead, because I wanted that too and that one was ready mounted whereas the 1006 was only in unmounted and I hate, loathe and detest mounting stamps!
I bumped into Alison watching Beatrice demoing Katzelcraft stamps, and had a lovely chat with Helen over a cup of tea. Jo Firth Young was demoing the Letterpress and was suprising unjetlagged after her trip to New York. Was a great day, despite the weather, although my bank manager is probably not of the same opinion!
Anyway, the big news of the week/year/century is obviously that Tim Holtz is coming to teach a class in the UK, courtesy of Artsy Crafts. Big dilema for me. Apart from the fact that paying for this now is nigh on impossible, although I could find the dosh at a pinch, if I did go to the event in February then that would be it for the year in terms of retreats, so I wouldn't be able to do a full Artsy Crafts weekend as well. Now, I am in awe of Tim Holtz and his techniques but.... do I sacrifice a full weekend of Lin and Leandra and their amazing team for 4 hours worth of Tim? Having given it a lot of thought, I had to consider is Tim a better teacher than Lin or Leandra. In my opinion, not really. He may be as good, but not better. Having attended Artsy Crafts events and seen lots of videos and step-by-steps on the web of Tim's techniques, I think Lin and Leandra can do what he does (though maybe not the skiing down mountains, saving the world type stuff that Linda E attributes to him, lol). I also love his stamps and his projects are amazing but... I also love Leandra's stamps and both Lin and Leandra produce amazing projects too. At the end of the day, I think Lin and Leandra's stuff has the edge for me. Again, this is just my opinion and my personal taste, but I prefer the stuff that l!n and THE Leandra Franiche produce over the stuff by Tim ...... don't shoot me!! So, while I congratulate Lin and Leandra on the amazing coup of getting Tim over here to teach a class, and I am sure lots of crafters here in the UK thank them from the bottom of their hearts, I am going to save my pennies for the amazing Artsy Crafts weekend in May and pass on Sir Tim of Holtz.... which I am sure won't have the slightest impact on him, lol, and I hope everyone who manages to get a ticket to the February events has an amazing time (I'm sure you will). I, on the other hand, will look forward to an equally amazing time in May :) Good luck for everyone at 8pm tomorrow when the tickets go up for grabs!!

It's Wednesday

2010-09-08T00:22:00.001+01:00

so it's time for WOYWW. For the uninitiated, get over to Julia's Blog and join in the weekly blog hop around the craft desks of the universe!

I managed to miss last Wednesday... I think the whole week went missing somewhere! Anyway, here is my very messy desk this week

Lots of assorted bits and bobs, and a page I am working on from my postage stamp "tag" book. I only have one more to do after this.. woohoo!

Nothing else to report here. Long and horrible week at work (and we're only at the half way post!), my herniated disk is giving me hell, but on the bright side I am looking forward to the Craft Barn Extravaganza on the weekend :)

Hope all you WOYWWers are well. Happy Wednesday everyone.

Unfinished Symphony

2010-09-05T14:53:00.000+01:00

My mojo has been away on holiday for a couple of weeks :(
This morning I was browsing around loooking for inspiration and over on Hels Blog the Sunday Stamper's challenge this week is "everything".
Well, I am the proud owner of a whole two (count them, an entire two, not just one, but two) sets of Studio 490 stamps.
Now I could have bought one of the actual acrylic binder thingies to keep them in, but I thought I would save my pennies to hopefully increase my collection. Instead, I decided to go for my fave material for such things... an empty cereal packet, lol. I cut the card to the same shape as the stamp backing and gave it a coat of gesso. Once the gesso was dry I set to giving the whole thing a grungy, art journaly sort of background with some spray inks, sequin waste, acrylic paint and stampd the background from Art-fully Said. The background still needed something, so I used some of t!m's stamps along the bottom. I then turned to my other set - Make Mine Mini Art, and stamped some of the flowers and the butterfly onto grungeboard and DIed them, then stamped some of the sentiments from Art-fully Said. The rather large empty space at the top will be filled with more Wendy Vecchi art when I get my mucky paws on more of her stamp sets.

So this now hangs on my rail above my desk with my whole two Studio 490 sets inside.
Ok, so it's not quite finished, and won't be until I get more Studio 490 stamps, but in the meantime it is my entry for the Sunday Stamper's Challenge as it uses everything Wendy Vecchi that I own.

WOYWW again

2010-08-25T14:14:00.000+01:00

I'm a bit late!! I had planned to be bright and early with my post showing a productive desk with lots of work in progress as I'm on leave this week. Alas, it was not to be:(
Yesterday I went with my DDs to The Stables in Chalk Farm (fab market with a crafty section, an antiquey section, a clothes section and all sorts of fabulous stuff). You can see some of my haul on my desk here, some Banksy images and some interesting postcards. Browsing the jewellery stalls I spotted a bracelet very similar to one I have so, when I got home I dumped my stuff on my workdesk (along with some cheap bogoff babywipes I picked up on my travels), and started looking for my bracelet. Can I find it? Can I heck!! I spent yesterday night and most of this morning searching to no avail. I know it was in a black gift pouch, but where that gift pouch has gone I do not know!.
So, here I am posting mid afternoon with nothing to show except chaos on my desk (and the finished tomato tin from last week), and no sign of the bracelet. If anyone has any clues as to where it might be, please let me know!
Hope everyone is having a good Wednesday. Anyone who hasn't heard of the WOYWW weekly event, visit Julia's blog and join in!

Alter it Monthly & Sunday Stampers

2010-08-22T16:31:00.000+01:00

My second entry for the August Alter it Monthly challenge with Music as the theme is my altered bean (tomato) tin. As this also has a flower on it, I get to play with Hels Sunday Stampers this week too :)

I started off intending for the main grungepaper jacket for the tin to look a bit different than this, prepped an inky, grungy background, stamped over it then I intended to fade it out a bit with a coat of watered down gesso. Alas, I did not dry the stamping first!! So I ended up with everything merged in to one faded blue background, lol. I stamped the swirl from Paperartsy Hot Picks 1005 in coffee archival ink, a butterfly from a CI plate in Adirondack Denim ink along the top, then laced that onto the tin with some blue ribbon (the tin had a coat of Hazelnut paint dabber at the top and bottom). I stamped the Stampotique musical tag stamp in denim onto some grungepaper inked with Broken China DI, then cut it out and stuck it onto the tin with some foam pads.

I stamped the larger flower from Paperartsy Hot Picks 1004 (the one that has some sheet music on it... see, sticking with the music theme) several times in coffee archival onto some tissue paper I had inked with weathered wood DI then cut them all out. I sprayed them with some home made shimmer mist with blue mica powder in it (I spritzed that over the grungepaper elements as well), then scrunched the flowers up a bit, flattened them out again and attached them all together with a small brad and some of t!m's sprocket gear.

It didn't end up quite where I thought it was going to, but then, things rarely do! That's half the fun :)

I've got a week off work this week, YAY!! So I can get inky and messy and play!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

WOYWW 63

2010-08-18T00:37:00.001+01:00

As you can see, we're a bit "busy" this week, lol. Lots of chaos! On my lovely WOYWW easel is a card wot I made earlier. Don't usually make cards, but over the weekend I had a bit of a play with an art journal page that wouldn't go right, so I gessoed over the whole thing, threw the journal to one side and made the card instead. It's not anyone's birthday or anything, I just felt like making something quick. The rest of my workspace is cluttered with the makings of an altered bean tin (it's a tomato tin again, actually). I've inked and stamped on some grungepaper and stamped on some tissue paper and I'm going for a blue and browny colour theme.... other than that I'm just going with the flow so who knows where it will lead!
This WOYWW thing is hu-uge! I haven't managed to get around to everyone's desk for ages, there are just so many of us these days. To join in the fun, hop on over to Julia's blog and start snooping around all the fabulous workspaces.
Happy Wednesday everyone.

Blog Candy

2010-08-17T19:58:00.000+01:00

THE Linda E has gone off (for a dirty weekend with one of her beau, no doubt). As compensation for abandoning us for a while she has offered some fab blog candy (a $50 Simon Says voucher no less!). For a chance to win pop over here and follow the destructions.

Alter it Monthly August Challenge entry

2010-08-12T21:44:00.000+01:00

The theme over on Alter it Monthly this month is music (and there is a £20 e-voucher to spend at The Altered Element up for grabs too, so have go! it's fun and you could win some stash shopping!). Nina Simone has been playing on my zen quite a bit lately (my randomiser isn't randomising properly!) and Feeling Good is stuck in my head, so I made this canvas:

I gave the canvas a glaze of Naples Yellow Hue acrylic then wrote the lyrics with a black sharpie. I collaged on some sheet music paper and then cut out some musical notes and the wotsit (flourishy thing... can't remember the name.. senior moment!) and used these as a mask. I spritzed the whole thing with some spray ink and some cosmic shimmer mists then removed the masks. I then stamped some birds and decorated some bird chip shapes (birds flying high), same with some stars (stars when you shine), stamped and cut out some butterflies (butterflies all havin fun) and used a Maya Road tree branch and some blossoms, plus some punched flowers (blossom on the tree). I printed out some images of the lovely Nina, cut them out and collaged those on to the bottom left, then splodged on some gold ferro which I stamped with some text and flourish stamps to the top and bottom left corners. Nina was blended in with some gold shimmer paint and I then re-wrote the relevant lyrics around the images.
I had lots of fun doing this and am quite pleased with how it turned out.

WOYWW 62 - Return of the Mack

2010-08-11T00:54:00.001+01:00

She's ba-ack! Here is Mackenzie prowling my desk again. She decided that this is now her territory (when she isn't sleeping on my bed) and I have to keep evicting her!

OK, I admit not much has happened with the journal page from last week, so Mack is about the most exciting thing going on on my workdesk this Wednesday!

Not much else to add this week folks, except to say, if you haven't yet joined in with the Wednesday desk sharing ritual, hop on over to Julia's blog and jump right in.

Happy Wednesday everyone.

WOYWW

2010-08-04T00:10:00.001+01:00

I remembered this week :) doesn't it look all lovely and organised(ish)? I've turned the desk around and cleared loads of stuff and organised it all . A background for an art journal page drying and a circle journal just arrived for me to work on, plus a few bits and pieces of chipboard and other stuff sitting around (including my lovely woyww easel!), but mainly tidy.

Zoom out for a look at my altered bits and bobs on the wall behind:

Do you notice a colour theme here (apart from the blue bird house?) I think I need to experiment more with colour!! I have to admit the framed picture at the bottom isn't mine... Charles Rennie Mackintosh did it!

Notice my new hangy rail thingies? Scarey isn't it? Fear not good WOYWWers, just pan to the right.............

....and here is all the "stuff" piled in boxes just as messy as ever! LOL

Any people passing by wondering why I am showing off my workspace, it's Wednesday so it's time to show us what's on your workdesk! Hop on over to the lovely Julia's blog to join in the fun.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Alter it Montly Challenge - July

2010-07-25T13:38:00.001+01:00

EDITED WEDS 28th JULY to say: Anyone popping round on the WOYWW rounds, sorry, I thought today was Tuesday until I saw the post on Helen's blog! I know, I'm losing the plot (actually lost it long ago!) Happy Wednesday to everyone x

Sneaking in just under the wire for this month's Alter it Monthly challege, which is Home Sweet Home, here is my entry - a wall hanging.
This has taken quite a while as so much else has been going on. I started back at the beginning of the month tearing and inking and stencilling and shimmer misting and generally altering some corrugated cardboard (you can see it at that stage here if you like). I then had a bit of a hectic couple of weeks and the corrugated card just sat there on my desk, neglected, until I found a bit of time and made some background to stick onto the card with papers that I inked, stamped, tore and again generally altered, even making an attempt at shabby chic while I was at it (more about that stage here).
At that point I got fed up with my craft area and started a mass clear up. That is still going on but I realised I needed to get this finished if I was going to enter it! So I dug out some stuff and had a fun day yesterday cutting out some letters, covering them with PP, inking them, sticking them on and then just had a play with all kinds of stuff to stick on them. The flowers are made with t!m's tattered floral die and bits of fabric and left over PP from the letters, the cat is a Stampotique image stamped onto grungepaper and inked with Spiced Marmalade DI, the stamped butterflies are Wendy Vecchi again on grungepaper this time painted with Viva metallic paint (the bodies are a row of beads), and the hearts are grungeboard inked with Nick Bantock Damson, covered with clear Croco and then shimmer misted with a few colours (whichever ones I grabbed that weren't clogged), the lock and key are grungeboard covered with Old Gold Ferro and sprayed with the same shimmer mists. I also stuck on some random bling and lace just because I could, then used my crop-a-dile to attach eyelets and tied the panels together with some overdied embroidery floss I had in my cross stitch stash. I used swivel clasps at the top to hang it with.
This was really fun to make :) Now I have to go back to trying to organise my mountain of stash.... not sure how I managed to pack it away before, it seems to have grown since I've been moving it around!!

WOYWW.... nuffink!

2010-07-21T00:05:00.002+01:00

*cue tumbleweeds*
Told you I was reorganising.... I think it's gone a bit too far!!
Here then, is my nekkid desk. It's an old gateleg table I got from a junk shop ages ago when the kids were little and I needed a dinner table that I could fold away when not in use. Then I inherited my gran's regency french polished jobby, so this old wreck was relegated to my bedroom as my workdesk.
I'm having some deep thoughts about Ikea and Expedits but then... think of all the stash I could buy with that money... decisions, decisions.
Anyway, I am off this afternoon to the oncologist for my 6 monthly prodding and poking to make sure the cancer is still cured! Hopefully next week I will have a neat and organised desk to show off (or the same old mess in a different configuration, lol)
For anyone passing through and wondering what this is all about, hop on over to Julia's blog to join in and show us all what is on your workdesk this Wednesday.
Happy Wednesday everyone.
Edited to add: Thanks for all the good wishes. All clear again at the hospital, back again in another 6 months.

Did you miss me?

2010-07-18T16:56:00.000+01:00

I have no idea where the past week and a half has gone. It started badly, then descended rapidly into hell and from there it was downhill all the way! Anyway, I have now had a chance to catch my breath and even to do a bit of crafting, yay!

Some of you may have long enough memories (or have scrolled down to my last post, lol) to recall the corrugated cardboard I had started playing with. Well here is how far I have got now with it. Still very much a work in progress, but I have taken some background papers and torn, inked, distressed and stamped on them then attached them to the cardboard. The backgrounds are from an unidentified 8 x 8 pad that has lost it's cover, the stamps are t!m's Artful Flight plus some from a CI plate and the ink is coffee archival, apart from the greeny one which has a pretty dismal dismal attempt at shabby chic overstamped with the same stamps but in saddle brown stazon.
So, after this burst of creativity I got really POed with my craft space and foolishly started to reorganise. I say foolishly because I have now made an almighty mess and am past the point of no return so have to keep going with it until I have restored some sort of order..... this may take a while!!!

WOYWW flyby post

2010-07-07T09:06:00.000+01:00

Phew, was late home last night then overslept this morning, so just snapped a quick pic on my mobile phone and have now uploaded it at work and am making a quick post just before 9am so I'm not officially meant to be working yet!

Not the greatest pic in the world I'm afraid. Usual "pushed back" mess.. a glimpse of my wonderful easel from the lovely Julia Dunnit who co-ordinates the WOYWW weekly event holding some offcuts of background loveliness made at the Artsy Craftsy weekend which I will find a use for on another project. The corrugated cardboard has had a quick Titan Buff acrylic glaze (using the golden acrylic glaze you can see mixed in with some Titan Buff paint) then been sprayed with some cosmic shimmer mist and been inked around the edges with brown chalk inks and then some Wild Honey DI through a stencil which didn't come out how I expected but I like the effect all the same (which cannot really be seen in this crappy pic). Anyway, these are intended as backgrounds for a project I am planning (I say "planning", it's more just making it up as I go along really, but I have a vague idea where I am going, so in my world that is hard core planning).
Anyways, I am now officially meant to be working, so I had best do some :(
Have a great Wednesday everyone, and I will visit later x

Boxed off

2010-07-04T11:20:00.001+01:00

Edit: I finally get to play with the Sunday Stampers this week as the theme is Rhinestone Cowboy and I have used gems on this, so this is my entry :)
Maybe I'm finally getting used to the heat, or maybe it has cooled down a degree or two, but anyway, I managed to finish off the box that was languishing on my desk on Wednesday. I woke up yesterday with some ideas buzzing around and set to work dry brushing some Claudine Hellmuth Classic Teal over the Traditional Tan, then wiped it over with a wet baby wipe to fade it in to the background. I stuck some scraps of patterned paper into two of the squares and then spritzed the whole thing with some light blue mica and water in a mini mister. The other two squares were filled with some scraps of TSS metal run through a couple of cuttlebug embossing folders. The patterned one was just sanded off and stuck in, the bird one I coloured with some alcohol inks. I then coated the frame with rock candy crackle paint (because it was on my desk and the transparent croco had been put away). I also coated the PPs and a bit of the corners on the metal squares. it crackled, but I think I prefer the effect of the croco.. bigger cracks. Anyway, at that point I was dragged off by my DDs for a meal out. We went to a bar called Belgo (I think) which had the most sublime mussels I have ever tasted. Not only are they the biggest and juiciest mussels, but they do them in loads of different ways, not just the usual Mariniere (which I love BTW, but it's nice to have something different), all washed down with chilled Belgian beer. Wonderful!
On to this morning then, when I rubbed some Walnut Stain DI into the crackles (such as they were) then rummaged about in the box of wonders (aka the RUB with all the broken jewellery and stuff) and found some faux pearls which I glued in one corner, and a little wooden heart (I feel a song coming on!), which I painted with Classic Teal then stencilled a swirl on with some Viva Precious Metal in Blue Ice.

Forgot to mention, I had stamped a swirl around the edge in Coffee Archival Ink between the Classic Teal dry brushing and the spritzing with Mica. I added a few Prima gems and flat pearls (because you can never have too much bling). I found this pom-pom trim in my ribbon box which was the perfect shade so attached that to the top and bottom, then swiped a bit of the Ice Blue viva around the frame in the middle to tie in the heart.
Not sure if I should put some of the trim across the middle as well. I did offer some up to it, but didn't think it looked right, but now I'm not sure if it looks right without it. What do you guys think?

WOYWW

2010-06-30T01:00:00.002+01:00

What's on my workdesk this Wednesday? A mess!! It's too hot to do much of anything, so I've just been fiddling around with a bit of this and a bit of that. The little box thing once contained tiny embellishments (christmas light charms I think). I only bought them so I could alter the box, LOL. Anyway, I've given it a coat of gesso then a coat of Traditional Tan (yes, I caught the bug from Hels ). Now it's sitting there waiting for me to decide my next move, but my mojo has melted in the heat :(
Yes, you do see a roll of toilet paper on my desk. I ran out of kitchen roll, ok!
Try not to look too hard at the mess under the desk. It's mainly bits of half used 12 x 12 in a wierd sort of magazine rack that doesn't hold stuff upright (I got it cheap, I wonder why?!!) There is an empty pringles tube under there waiting for a flash of inspiration to strike. There must be something wonderful to be made with these things, I just can't think what right now.

Speaking of waiting for inspiration, here is a close up of the spoons. I'm waiting for Jennie to alter hers so I can copy her brilliant idea :)
Right, I am writing this post on Tuesday night and scheduling it to appear on Wednesday morning. I'm off to a meeting in Somerset bright and early and I won't be back until the evening. Hopefully some kind soul will link me in (pretty please) over at our fearless leader's blog. For those of you who haven't joined in the fun and madness of WOYWW yet, check out the amazing Mrs Dunnit's Blog to see what we are all on about.

Happy Wednesday WOYWWers x

Diddly doodle day

2010-06-27T18:25:00.000+01:00

It is too hot to do much of anything, especially as my craft area is in one of the hottest parts of the house! So, to take my mind off the abysmal performance of the England team in South Africa I had a go at a zendoodle, or maybe just a plain doodle (not sure what the difference is).

I picked a page in my art journal which already had a background of inky messy grungyness on it and started doodling. Not really happy with it, and I found it hard going to fill in the whole page. Usually if I am doodling on a page it's just in the margin or something. It felt odd trying to cover a large area with just doodles (which is why I made the big flower in the middle, but then that made it a bit difficult to make sections around the edge). Still, it was something to do that didn't involve mess so I could find a cooler spot than my craft desk to work in. Notice I said cooler, not cool. Nowhere is cool right at this moment!

A Tale of Two Twitties

2010-06-19T20:43:00.000+01:00

I had a couple of these little wooden birdies in my stash and decided to finally get around to altering them. I started off earlier in the week giving them a coat of gesso, then I set to blending various shades of blue acrylic paints on them. I was toying with the idea of giving them a night sky look with a dark blue blended background and lots of sparkly stars all over. I got bored with that idea before I finished the blended background LOL.

So, there they sat on my craft desk all blue and boring and stuff, waiting for me to finish them off. Today I decided to set to and started by stencilling a flower pattern over the first one with some blue and green Viva decor paints (excuse the crap photos, not sure what is wrong with me today!

Anyway, I stencilled the bird both sides then went around the edge with a gold Krylon pen ( covered the wooden bead with the Krylon pen as well) Then I smooshed some Rock Candy distress stickles over the whole thing. I coloured a Maya Road chandelier bead with pink alcohol ink and attached that to the ring at the bottom with some gold thread. I finished it off with a pink bow and gave it crystal stick on gem eyes.

I decided to go more grunge for the other one. I found some stiff sort of calico lineny guazey stuff in my stash (who knows where I get this stuff, I must go shopping when drunk or something!) and stuck that all over birdie. Then I went mad with my cosmic shimmer mists. I think I used all of them (except the one with the bunged up spray). I used the same mists on some bits of lace and then stuck those on top of the wings. I only attached them at the bottom part of the wing so they give some dimension. I used more stick on crystal gems for eyes, Krylon pen on the wooden bead then tied some glittery hairy stuff on the ring at the bottom (no, I haven't been glimmer misting the cat..... although... that might be kinda interesting.... but I digress, it was some wool stuff - again, no idea where it came from).
I decorated both sides of each of them, and they are slightly different on each side (mainly because I can never replicate anything exactly!) so here are their other profile shots:

This month over at alter it monthly the theme is Birds of a Feather, so these will be my entry.

WOYWW and......

2010-06-16T07:18:00.000+01:00

...it's my birthday!
*51 today! 51 today! I've got the key to the care home door, never been 51 before!*
So here on my desk is... Stash, glorious Stash! My DD's got me a selection of stash from my wishlist (t!m's Artful Flight stamps and the tattered florals, 3 stampotique stamps, morphic bugs) plus they got me this gorgeous bird cage! Isn't it fab?!! The possibilities are endless! (sorry, I seem to have a bad case of excessive exclamations this morning... it's my age lol). They also got me the fabulous Josephine Wall art book which has really lush piccies of loads of her artwork in it. If you haven't seen her stuff, take a look around her website here
Anyway, an apology is due from me as I didn't make it around many desks last week. Really sorry to everyone I missed, but work was really rough last week and I just couldn't find the time or the energy to blog hop. Promise I will try harder this week!
Anyone who wants to join in the WOYWW fun, hop over to our fearless leader, Julia's, blog and follow the links to all the interesting, messy, tidy, arty, amazing desks and workspaces.
Happy Wednesday everyone.

WOYWW

2010-06-09T14:53:00.000+01:00

For a change (and because I didn't have time to take a photo at home this week) I have decided to show you my work workdesk this Wednesday. As you can see, I am up to my eyes in a spreadsheet (mainly because an idiot was left in charge of a database and chaos has ensued!). This is my view of the world for the majority of my working day (which is too long!). Yes, I have a cup of tea, and the little bottle at the bottom left of my monitor is not, in fact, Elemis shampoo. It is some handwash which I take with me when I am on site because some of the antibacterial handwashes aggravate my excema (or however you spell it)

This is the view into the rest of the office (most of the healthy looking plants are artificial, the dead looking ones are the real ones!).

This is the view other people have of my desk when they come to bother me!!

Here is a close-up of the monkey guard who sits on my printer and prevents other people from using all my ink!

For those of you who think I am completely mad - you are absolutely right. However, if you are thinking I am mad because you don't know about WOYWW, then hop on over to Julia's Blog and find out all about it. Maybe join in the fun too, the more the merrier!.

I will try to visit some desks now, but I really should be untangling this stupid database, so I will probably have to visit most of you later this evening. Happy Wednesday!

WOYWW is one year old!

2010-06-02T10:35:00.000+01:00

Congratulations to Julia for starting this and working so hard to keep it going. It's become a ~~phenomenon~~ a very big thing! For those who haven't heard about the mega huge WOYWW movement, hop over to this post on Julia's blog where it is all explained. So, on with the motley... here is my anniversary piece (on my very messy desk)

Ta-da! I have finally altered my bean tin (actually a tomato tin). Regular WOYWWers may recall seeing the poor nekkid tin holding some of my pens, pencils and assorted things that would fit in it, sitting on my desk awaiting adornment. Well, I thought it would be a fitting anniversary tribute to finally decorate the poor neglected thing. Of course, this meant my desk got even messier as I had to empty it out, and then I was working until late last night to finish it so stuff is strewn all over the desk (whaddya mean "what's different"?!)

I covered it in grungepaper that I had inked with Wild Honey and Peeled Paint DI then stamped with Paper Artsy Hot Pick stamps (purchased at the Artsy Crafts event... I lurve those stamps) in archival Olive, Coffee and jet black inks to give some depth. I added a few extra little birds from Crafty Individuals. I then made some holes with the BIA and laced it on with some hairy, dangly thread stuff I had laying around. (oh, I painted the tin with a Willow paint dabber first).

And here is the money shot. The famous acronym stamped across the top.
My pens and stuff can now sit proudly in their new, suitably adorned tin.
OK, I'm on leave this week so I can hopefully visit more desks this week. Looking forward to seeing everyone on this special date!

Blog Candy Alert!

2010-06-01T16:05:00.000+01:00

Leandra has some great candy up for grabs over at the Paper Artsy blog. You can all go and look, but no entering now because it's MINE!!!! lol.
Amazingly enough, I just got selected for the e-voucher for Happy Daze over on the Alter it Monthly challenge for my entry for May, so I guess I won't get lucky twice :(
Best of all though, my metal wall hanging got selected for the sampler over there!! That really has got me happy dancing :)
Anyway, no pics to show today... I have a WOYWW anniversary thingy to make by tomorrow!!!

I got an award!!

2010-05-31T18:34:00.001+01:00

*blush* I found an award on my blog from Helen with the following instructions:-

1 Express gratitude to the blogger who bestowed the award unto you... Copious,grovelling …I am not worthy… gratitudes - ok, here goes. Helen makes fabulous art, takes amazing photographs and has impeccable taste in football teams.
2 Display the picture on your blog proudly.

3 Be nice and provide a link to the person who gave it to you.
Ok, http://stampingbyh.blogspot.com/ is the blog by Helen (she of the amazing floorspace and brand new big shot)

4 Tell up to six outrageous lies about yourself, and at least one outrageous truth, or switch it around and tell six outrageous truths and one outrageous lie. I'm not telling which is which :)

So here are my lies and/or truths:

I am really a size zero but I wear a fat suit all the time so other people don't feel bad at not being as thin as me (coz I am nice like that)
I once received an indecent proposal from an Arab prince who wanted to "take pictures of me in Hyde Park" because he was a keen amateur photographer (apparently)
I am a secret agent and get to go on exotic trips to top secret locations to spy on people
I won a scholarship to go to MIT when I was 12 because I am so clever and stuff, but I turned it down because I was scared of flying.
I don't ever eat chocolate or cakes.
I turned down Brad Pitt so he married Jennifer Aniston on the rebound.

5 Nominate seven creative writers who might be into doing this.

6 Post links to the seven blogs you nominate (see above) and let the owners of those blogs know.

Ok, off to let the blog owners know... this may take a while!
.

WOYWW

2010-05-26T08:55:00.000+01:00

... or maybe what's not on my workdesk, because there isn't much! The badge is one we were all given at the Artsy Crafts weekend all made up for us when we arrived :)

To make up for the complete lack of activity on my actual workdesk, I will show you another area with a sad lack of industry... my cross stitch corner. Each of the plastic boxes contains a cross stitch project. There are a few smaller ones piled up on the top left, and the lap tray on the top right has a long neglected bead weaving project on it. The big bag looking thing on the top left is a pillow case with a few actual completed projects in it.... waiting to be framed! My excuse for not doing any cross stitch for such a long time is that my magnifying lamp broke and my eyes are no longer up to working on 32 count linen unaided. (I know, that's pretty lame). I really should get back to work on some of these poor neglected things. I have some beautiful pieces on the go such as Carousel by Teresa Wentzler, Celestial Dragon by the same artist, Storyteller (TW again), Queen of Peace by Nora Corbett...... I really need to finish some of them! Help!
Anyway, happy Wednesday WOYWW, hope to visit you all soon.

Artsy Crafts...

2010-05-24T20:47:00.000+01:00

... was amazing!!! I had the greatest time getting inky and messy and having fun. First we made a giant tag called Secret Garden using all kinds of fabby new background techniques and doing interesting new things with Ferro. (Of course we got to play with all of Leandra's latest Paper Artsy stamps, and we also got to play with her new dies which are - pardon the pun - to die for!!)

Then we made the main project, Flights of Fancy, which was full of even more amazing new background techniques, and new ways with metal, incredibly inventive things with Terra and some cool stuff with canvas. We played with Inca Gold too, and I need every single colour, it is just sooo gorgeous!

Finally we made a little birdie hangy thing which used even more new techniques and stuff!

I'm only allowed to show you little sneaky peeks, but you can see how gorgeous all the colour combinations are and how lush everything looks.

These weekends really are the best thing ever. Lin and Leandra really are the most amazingly talented people but what is truly wonderful is how generous they are with that talent. Of course they are always ably assisted by Superwoman (aka Karen) and the comedy double act of Linda Elbourne and Jo Firth-Young, and the whole team makes every effort to ensure that everyone is well looked after and feels welcome. The whole atmosphere is warm and friendly and everyone gets on really well. I can honestly and wholeheartedly recommend these events to anyone and everyone. Can you tell I loved it. This was my second time and I really want to go to every one from now on... if only I can afford it!
Anyway, hope everyone in the UK is enjoying the lovely weather... make the most of it while it lasts, and I look forward to visiting all the WOYWW in a couple of days.

WOYWW

2010-05-19T09:29:00.000+01:00

Yes, it's Wednesday already, which can only mean one thing...... only 3 more sleeps to Artsy Crafts!! Of course, it's also WOYWW day. This week I thought I would show you a couple of different angles of my little corner of the universe:

I normally take shots from where I usually sit to craft I realised, so I went to the other side of the desk this week. It's all very cluttered, mainly because if I hide things away I forget I've got them and either don't use them or buy another one! lol.

Here you can see some of the stuff on my desk a bit more clearly. I'm working on a CJ at the moment. I've also had a bit of a move around on the desk so things are bit tidier than usual (only a bit mind you!).

And this is just a sideways view so you can see all the clutter climbing up the walls!

Hope everyone has a great day, and don't forget to join in with the fun here on our fearless leader's blog.

Two challenges in one

2010-05-14T20:43:00.000+01:00

Still on the theme of Tin Pan Alley this is my second entry for the Alter it Monthly challenge for May. I think it might also qualify for Hel's Sunday Stamper challenge this week which is We Are Golden.
I went over a small tin with a selection of alcohol inks on a felt applicator. I used wild plum, raisin and caramel. Once that was dry I rubbed some Antique Gold stickles all over (see, Gold!). I inked a tiny grungeboard heart with Nick Bantock Damson Plum ink (love that colour), then triple embossed it adding some gold pigment powder to the final layer and stamped into it with a text stamp (more Gold). I then gold embossed a grungeboard heart (yet more Gold).

I covered the inside with wild plum alcohol ink, then lined it with some K&Co verbena paper that I stamped with a Wendy Vecchi scroll stamp. I stuck a Crafty Individuals image into the lid, then took a Maya Road chipboard flower, inked it with the Nick Bantock damson plum and triple embossed. I stamped it with a text stamp on the last layer then rubbed in some gold wax once it was cool (and more Gold). The Wendy Vecchi small butterfly was stamped onto grungepaper, cut out and then coloured with the Nick Bantock ink. I used some purpley seed beads for the body and stuck gems on the antennae (or however you spell them). I used some UTEE inside the base with some purple micro beads and gold mica flakes (there's the Gold again) and stuck a Prima pebble in that matched the colours.
So, Gold and a tin, I think that qualifies for both challenges :)
Happy Friday..... only 7 more sleeps to Artsy Crafts :)))

WOYWW

2010-05-12T07:51:00.000+01:00

My desk seems to have disappeared! This basket usually lives on the floor next to my desk and stuff gets put in to it. You know the kind of thing - new stash, interesting buttons and bits of lace from old clothes, tickets that look pretty or that I want to scrap some day - that kind of stuff. The idea being, it goes in there as a sort of inbox and then gets sorted out and put away. Only the basket is full to overflowing and no sorting out or putting away has been happening. So, I have dumped it (and the overflow) on top of my desk so I will have to sort it out before I can do any crafting. That's the theory anyway. It's been there since Monday evening with no change so far. My excuse is I've been working late... hopefully there will be improvement before next week, otherwise you all have permission to whip me with wet noodles!!
On a different subject.... only 10 more sleeps! No, I'm not Linda Elbourne and I'm not going to Ranger U. I am going to the next Artsy Crafts weekend though (and Linda will be there) - woohoo!
BTW for those who asked last week, my two daughters both have the first initial J, so the Js were one each for them.

Wall Hanging on a budget

2010-05-09T13:39:00.001+01:00

I'm on a strict stash diet at the moment (mainly due to the tax man stealing all my money!) so I'm having to adapt techniques to match in with what I have laying around - it's kind of fun in some ways. Anyway, I have been wanting to try out Lin Brown's technique tutorial here (mainly the background metal stuff although I will get around to the UTEE one day.... when I dig out my melt pot and pluck up the courage to use it). I didn't have a mould, and wanted to get one at Ally Pally but alas, cash would not stretch that far. I did get a different mould from Creative Expressions though and, whilst not quite the right thing sort of worked. So, here is what I ended up with:

The basic shape is cut from a cereal packet. I used TSS Dark Chocolate metal, and filled some of the diamond shapes with glossy accents and micro beads. Other diamond shapes were filled with crystal stickles and a few I scratched off the colour with the brush tool. I went around the edge with a scootchy wheel. I don't have any terra so I used Golden moulding paste instead on the left at the top and a few places around the edge, and I used iron ferro and a damp text stamp on the right. Once it was all dry I used Copper viva precious metal paint to highlight the paste and the ferro and decided to carry that on into the scribbled diamond shapes. I also decided the bare metal didn't go well in the piece so I painted on some raisin alchohol ink.

I went to the magic box of broken jewellery and other assorted junky stuff and took some chain and a few charms off a sort of belt thing one of my DDs discarded a while ago. The colour was wrong as they were a sort of antique brass colour, so I coloured them with the raisin alchohol ink as well and used them to finish off the hanging.
As the Alter it Monthly theme this month is Tin Pan Alley (alter a metal item or use metal in the piece) I thought this could be my entry.

A very late WOYWW

2010-05-05T21:35:00.000+01:00

So late it's almost a WOYWThursday!! T'internet is finally reconnected at work, but not until about 5.30pm so I couldn't post from work. Had to wait until I got home, did all kinds of stuff and now, finally, I have had a chance to take a quick pic and here it is:

Not much of the desk on show I'm afraid. You can just see the edge of my paint mixing wotsit on the left with a selection of chipboard bird shapes in it. I intended to use them for something, but I can't remember what now. The little black thing at the top was from a tube of some kind of glue, and I have found it very useful for unblocking my glossy accents from time to time. The letters are MDF ones that I got from somewhere ages ago and never got around to doing anything with. I finally decided to alter them this week and have been doing bits and pieces to them. First I gave them a coat of Traditional Tan paint each, then another one for luck. The pink then has some K & Co Madeleine paper stuck to the top then I swiped some tattered rose DI around the edge. The other one I stamped a Wendy Vecchi stamp with coffee Archival Ink then swiped the edge with brushed corduroy DI. Both of them were then coated with the very last of my transparent Croco and left to dry. This evening when I got in from work I smooshed some walnut stain DI into the cracks then wiped the excess off with a baby wipe. I've then spritzed some mallow pink and antique copper cosmic shimmer mist onto the pink one and some rich gold and antique copper onto the other one. Not sure what I am going to do with them next.... maybe I'm finished... what do you guys think?
Ok, off now to see what's on everyone else's desks this Wednesday (maybe it will be Thursday by the time I've finished looking!).

TWTWTW

2010-05-01T13:02:00.000+01:00

For those of you of a younger disposition, the title was a TV prog back in medieval times when we only had three channels (That Was The Week That Was). The office has moved, the phones have moved, the internet, thanks to BT, has not!! Emails are being forwarded from our domain server to my Blackberry, which is running red hot, poor little thing! Normal internet service will, apparently, be restored by Wednesday afternoon. I'll believe it when it happens!
Anywho, I have managed to get my CJ all prepared, packed up and ready to go. Unfortunately I didn't make it to the post office before it closed for the weekend, so it won't start it's journey until Tuesday. Here is a sneaky peek of the front page:

The image is called Gypsy Moth and is by Josephine Wall who I really love, she produces the most amazing fantasy images. The background is black card smothered in silver cosmic shimmer mist and the title is grungeboard letters coated with transparent croco (I'm running low on that now, must get a new pot!) and then spritzed with different coloured shimmer mists. The stickers are DCWV Once Upon A Time.

In other news Charmed Cards & Crafts blog has some fabulous blog candy on offer this month. Hop on over for a chance to win t!m goodies (including his Compendium of Curiosities).

Hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend x

Boxes, Boxes, Boxes

2010-04-25T14:04:00.000+01:00

The company I work for is moving offices next week so this week has involved packing loads of crates and sorting out files - which has been a nightmare while trying to carry on with day to day work as well. Not had much time to do any crafting :( One of the presents for my older DD's birthday was in a plain black gift box, which I thought was rather boring, so I jazzed it up a bit:

I gave it a coat of transparent Croco Paint (for Carmen, here is a link to the product page for it at The Craft Barn, basically it's a crackle medium which you can get in colours or tranparent. I like it better than any of the other crackle paints and mediums I have tried because I get a great effect with it). Anyway, once that was dry I spritzed it with lots of different cosmic shimmer mists. Can't remember all of them but I know I used Mallow Blush, Golden Fish and Peacock. I took a chipboard shape and covered that with Blackberry Ferro which I then stamped with a text stamp. I gave that a couple of spritzes with different shimmer mists as well, then rubbed some treasure wax over the top too. It looks better than plain black, anyway!

Alter it Monthly challenge 1

2010-04-17T12:40:00.001+01:00

So there's a new blog in town - Alter it Monthly. You can visit from the button in my side bar or click here. Basically, it does what it says on the tin - issues a monthly challenge for altered artists. This is so cool because I hardly ever have the time to make something from scratch for a weekly challenge, so I only get to enter if I have made something that happens to coincide with the theme. A month gives plenty of time to think of something and get it made. This month the challenge is to alter a matchbox. Well I happened to have one sitting on my pile of stuff - probably left over from one of those matchbox altered calendars. So, I gave it a coat of gesso, then sprayed it inside and out with a few different shades of cosmic shimmer mist. After that it sat there on my desk looking at me for a few days and I had no idea what to do with it. I gave the bottom of the inside a triple coat of UTEE with a sprinkle of a few different mica powders in the last layer, and then it sat there again and looked at me, and again I had no mojo.

Finally I was playing with some tranparent Croco on something else, and inspiration struck. I coated the outside with the transparent Croco and, once it was dry, gave it a coat of pink Precious Metal Paint. I smooshed some black paint into the cracks to highlight them a bit then ran a gold Krylon pen around the edges. I've had this corset charm for a while and thought it looked cute inside, and the rose is leather from my treasure chest (aka the box with the broken bits of jewellery and other interesting tat) which I seem to have edged with some kind of frosty looking stuff at some point. I thought it looked good on the top. So here it is, my entry for the first challenge on the Alter it Monthly blog!

PS- please excuse the crappy first photo, I think I have the shakes today!

WOYWW

2010-04-14T09:05:00.000+01:00

Here we are again, Wednesday already!?!! I'm back at work :( so it's sneaking on to post again and I will catch up with everyone when I get home tonight. ok, here we are:

What a mess! Lots of new cosmic shimmer mists from Ally Pally, a half complete matchbox thingy for the Alter it Monthly challenge, some gilding flakes I got out and haven't put away again, lots of other things I got out and haven't put away again.... you get the idea!

Ah well, it was tidy once upon a time, lol

Circling Around

2010-04-11T17:27:00.000+01:00

I've been messing around with this all day. I'm in a circle journal, or at least I will be, it hasn't started yet - first posting date is May 1st. Anyway, I have chosen Fantasy as my theme, anything fantasy related, dragons, fairies, fairy tales, wishing to own your own tropical island - anything goes really (except whips, leather and bondage - it's not THAT kind of fantasy, thank you!). My book is a 6 x 6 and this is my DLO for it. I was inspired by Tracey Dutton of Lavinia Stamps, and read her article in the August 09 issue of Craft Stamper to get some tips, then I tried brayering a background. I've tried it before, and it was no more successful this time *sigh*, so I ripped my 'hills' and used cut n dry foam instead (but don't tell anyone!). This is actually my third attempt. The first one was, to be fair, just a trial run to see how different greens worked for the hills. The second one I just wasn't happy with, and then I buggered it up (technical term) altogether by smudging one of the stamps, so I started again and I am happier with this one. I have used, of course, a Lavinia fairy plus the castle and some mushrooms which you may be able to just make out in the foliage at the bottom. The runny babbit is, of course, from Sir t!m's Spring Sprung set ( a purchase from Ally Pally yesterday) as is most of the foliage at the bottom. The birds and the tree branches down the side are Crafty Individuals. The mouse (is it Hunka Munka? I'm a bit rusty on my Beatrix Potter) is from a set of die cuts I seem to have aquired from somewhere - think it might have been free with a magazine.

Ally Pally was great. The weather was fantastic and was lovely to be able to sit outside to eat lunch looking over London. Unfortunately I didn't manage to find Helen :( but I did bump into Carmen a few times which was great. I also got to see Hels demoing on the Artistic Stamper stand and while I was there was lucky enough to meet Alison as well. Of course, the divine Ms Linda was beavering away on the LB Crafts stand and I got to meet her too. It really is amazing to meet people from blogland in real life, you feel as if you already know them!

Enough waffle from me, off now to try and make the rest of my book for the CJ before I run out of time!

WOYWW - back to normal

2010-04-07T12:02:00.000+01:00

It's Wednesday and I'm on leave (yay!!) so no sneaking about posting from work this week :). Some of you may still recall the freakily clean and tidy desk from two weeks ago, but normal service has now been resumed!

I've made another note book with my BIA and a coverall for my older DD for her birthday. She is more of a pink girl so I went pink! LOL. The heart and wings are grungeboard triple UTEEd and stamped.

Anyway, this feels much more like home again with all my mess and clutter.... much nicer than all that strange neat and tidy place!

Off now to link up over at Julia's place then visit everyone else's desks.

Happy Wednesday

Another Card!

2010-04-05T11:34:00.000+01:00

I'm getting in to this card lark now. This one is for my older DD, her birthday is two weeks after my younger DD's (there is only 11.5 months difference in ages between them, so for two weeks each year they are the same age!)

I took a white glittery card blank (not sure why I have those, must have been drunk when I bought them!) and matted some black card and then some blue mirror card (obviously purchased on the same alcoholic spending spree as the card blanks!). I'm improving on the matting slightly too since buying myself one of those clear rulers with a metal strip and markings on them (no, not the one by Sir t!m, but similar). I then made a sparkly, grungy background by dabbing some Brilliance inks onto my craft mat, spritzing them with water then plonking (technical term) some white card onto the wet ink, drying, then plonking some more. The frame is, I think, a Maya Road one, painted with crackle paint then, when that was dry I rubbed on some walnut stain DI and then some gold wax. I used a Crafty Individuals background paper with butterflies on in the frame then stuck that on to the card as well as the pink and brown butterflies which are from a haberdashery dept somewhere. The chipboard butterfly is again Maya Road. I painted it with viva precious metal paint then stuck on lots of bling.
Hope everyone is having a great Easter. I'm looking forward to Ally Pally on Saturday where I shall head for the LB Crafts stand and pull faces at Ms Linda E :)

A bit of a book

2010-04-03T18:28:00.001+01:00

It's my youngest DDs birthday in just over a week, so I decided to have a play with my BIA and make her a note book.

I blended some brushed corduroy, aged mahogany and a little bit of walnut stain DI all over a bamboo spine cover-all, then I stamped a Crafty Individuals flourish with versamark on the top left and bottom right from corners and brushed on some antique gold perfect pearls. I used a Basic Grey bling-it-on on the top right, then I blended some more brushed corduroy on the chipboard letters then spritzed them with golden fish cosmic shimmer mist. The crown is a Maya Road chipboard one that I have covered with gilding flakes in yellow and rose gold then added some prima gems. The heart is chipboard triple embossed with clear UTEE with some cosmic shimmer powders sprinkled in the last layer, then I pressed in a text stamp on to it all while it was still hot.

I put some more gilding flakes on the knobbly bits on the spine so it sort of looks like faded gold tooling on an antique leather book (well, sort of!!)

I used some K&Co 6 x 6 papers on the inside and stamped a Wendy Vecchi sentiment embossed with gold.

Happy Easter bloggers!

Egged on for easter

2010-03-28T17:08:00.001+01:00

Pardon the pun! I've always thought easter eggs were a bit of a rip-off, but when the children were little I always got them one. Now they are older I have tended to buy them a box of chocs instead. Well, this year I have been seeing in the shops a lot of egg shaped boxes with a few mini sweets inside tied up with a ribbon and I thought "I could make those". So, yesterday I gave it a go...... I don't think I'll bother again, LOL! It was a bit of a feat of engineering, the two bits don't fit together too well, and I.m sure with a bit more time I could have made a bit of a better job of the "hinge" part. Unfortunately, I'm off to Bournemouth with work tomorrow and won't be back until late on Wednesday which didn't give me a huge amount of time. Anyway, here they are, one each for my DD's still to be filled with chocs

I cut four egg shapes out of heavy duty cardboard then cut a section from each in a zig-zag to look like a cracked egg. I then cut strips of cereal box card (yep, using the cereal packets again!) to wrap around the egg shapes as the sides. I stuck the egg shapes to the sides with red line tape then stuck patterned paper all over both parts. I left a bit extra on the side strips to use later to stick the two halves together. Coated the whole lot with decopatch glue - which is sort of like mod podge only easier for me to get hold of as there is a shop that sells it right round the corner from my office. I made some big, grungy flowers with large nestie blossom shapes cut from the same PP then scrunched up, sprayed with cosmic shimmer mists and edged with brown chalk inks Used some odds and ends of prima flowers in the centres and fixed these on to the eggs with brads. Made a couple of holes in the sides with a crop-a-dile, stuck the two halves together with the extra bit of side strip and threaded ribbon through the crop-a-dile holes.
They look very "rustic" LOL. I think maybe I should have used a continuous strip for the sides and stuck them together in one go, but I didn't think of that at the time... plus I think the cereal packet wasn't tall enough. Anyway, I'm sure once they are filled with chocolates nobody will care!

WOYWW

2010-03-24T09:00:00.001Z

... or rather, what isn't. Prepare to be amazed......

tidy desk!!!!! I'm obviously very, very unwell! Don't worry, it won't last, lol.
I am actually typing this post on Tuesday night and will now attempt to schedule this to appear on Wednesday morning, then try to find time to log on at work and link in on our fearless leaders blog! Next week I shall be missing as I will be in Bournemouth at a trade show on Wednesday, although I will be back home in the evening so will try and visit everyone.

I made a card!

2010-03-21T19:07:00.000Z

This is the first time I've ever made a card I am pleased with! I hardly ever make cards as I am really, really bad at it. Anyway, after seeing all the gorgeous cards Helen makes I was inspired to try again as it's my DD's birthday coming up soon.

The background is from a Crafty Individuals backgrounds book and has lots of lovely grungy colours in it. I smooshed some brilliance inks onto my craft sheet, spritzed them with water then dipped a chipboard word and some grungepaper into the wet inks. I stamped a Studio 490 butterfly onto the grunge and cut them out, used some gems for the bodies then stuck them on around a Prima flower. I covered a K&Co "thinking of you on your birthday" ticket with rock candy crackle paint then swiped some cosmic shimmer mists over it when it was dry. I used rock candy stickles on the word, and coloured a crown (she is my princess, lol) with a gold krylon pen and then put some antique linen stickles over the top of that. It's all very sparkly and I like how it looks.

WOYWW

2010-03-17T12:27:00.000Z

Mackenzie is on my workdesk this Wednesday! Actually it was Monday, but it was too good a photo to miss. Not much else has gone on on my desk this week anyway, so you might at well look at Mackie, lol. I'll pop round and visit everyone later when I get in from work.
Happy WOYWW everyone.

Random Canvas

2010-03-14T13:00:00.000Z

Happy Mother's Day to all UK mums. My two DD's have been spoiling me this morning and got me a lovely box of Lindt Petit Desserts.. yummy!
I've had a small canvas sitting around for ages with just a first background layer done on it. Actually it featured in a WOYWW back in February. It had some gesso and a couple of layers of acrylic paint plus a bit of text stamping and sequin waste inking on it.

So this poor neglected canvas has been hanging around waiting to be completed but my mojo just wasn't feeling it, until yesterday. Inspired by Hels mini canvas in the February issue of Craft Stamper I decided to mess around with some Terra background techniques. One small problem.... no Terra! Eeek! Not to be put off, I dug out a jar of Golden Moulding Paste and mixed some with Raw Sienna acrylic paint and used that instead. I slapped that on about half the canvas then used some Iron Ferro on the other half just for fun. Stamped into it all with a damp text stamp then sprayed a some cosmic shimmer mists in golden fish and peacock green. Using the heatgun between layers made even more texture in the background as the fake Terra bubbled up just like Hels had said the real thing did.

The colour of the original paint plus the two shimmer mists made a lovely green colour similar to Peeled Paint DI so I inked that on to some grungepaper and stamped on a couple of Studio 490 butterflies and used some seed beads for the bodies. The chipboard shape is actually cut out of a cereal packet which I then inked with Dusty Concord, stamped a Studio 490 background in Coffee archival ink then another Studio 490 fern in Aged Mahogany then a dusting of Perfect Pearls to give some shine. The word is, of course, a t!m stamp. I used Olive archival ink for that, stuck on the butterflies then used some of t!m's foliage in one of the other corners. I used the blossom nesties in my bug to cut some text paper and tissue paper. I inked them up with some Peeled Paint DI then sprayed them with some Golden fish and Peacock Green and fixed the smaller one with a long fastener and the other one I used a white prima flower sprayed with Peacock Green and a prima gem in the middle. I then dug through my treasure box of broken earrings, pendants and anything shiny and fixed these onto magic mesh to look sort of like a fishing net type of thing. A few more prima gems and flat back pearls to add some random bling and I decided I was done.
Wierdly enough, the Sunday Stampers Challenge over on Hels blog is Bits & Pieces, and this is definitely that, so I guess I am entering this week, LOL.

WOYWW

2010-03-10T10:31:00.000Z

Just a quick post as I am meant to be busy working!! In fact, I am... busy that is. Anyway, here is a peek at my desk taken just before I dashed out the door this morning.

Luckily I had some pics on my camera for work so I have an excuse to be downloading stuff at my office work desk (where I do boring real work instead of fun craft work). Maybe I should post a pic of this desk next week!
Please note it is a bit tidier than usual (just a bit). The dish is one I made at an Artsy Crafts weekend in March last year and the empty bean (actually tomato) tin is waiting to be "Linda E'd" but couldn't wait for pens as they were spread all over the place.
Happy WOYWW everyone.

Page 9 and 10

2010-03-07T19:15:00.000Z

Lots of fairly hard personal stuff been going on this week so I haven't had much time to blog. I have managed to get two more pages from my not-a-tag book done.

This is page 9. I used one of Sir t!m's masks on the background as well as a Wendy Vecchi background stamp. The little boy is also from Sir t!m and I have used some distress stickles on his hat and wings. The bird and the feather were some die cuts I had hanging around and they seemed to fit so they went on. I went around everything with a black sharpie because I thought it all needed a bit more definition.

This is page 10. I used Rock Candy crackle paint on the figure and crystal stickles on the umbrella. Not sure what this is trying to say but it seemed to want to look like this so I just went along with it.

Page 8

2010-02-28T14:54:00.000Z

I'm ba-ack! Had an exhausting week in Yeovil. Builders were meant to be finished but were still in my way, carpet fitters were still fitting, curtain fitter wasn't fitting - eeek! lift stopped working for a whole day so I had to sell my soul to suppliers to get them to lug furniture up two flights of stairs (or three in some cases!) but we finally got it finished and I crawled home late on Friday night. After a long soak in the bath, catching up on much needed sleep and getting several loads of washing done I finally managed to squeeze in a quick not-a-tag book page. So, here is page 8

I cheated a bit as I had the background done already, and I just stamped the Lost Coast image on top of it, stuck a couple of felt leaves at the bottom and some beadazzles around the top and it was done. I did stick some gems on the top of her sceptre and in her crown as well. She is very sparkly so you can't see her that well. I love this stamp as it reminds me of my youngest DD when she was little. She was, and still is, the Princess of Everything LOL.

Off now to have a look see at what everyone has been up to while I've been away.... I notice Ms Linda E is still on cloud 9 from the Holtzmeister sighting!

Bye for now!

2010-02-21T14:50:00.000Z

Just a quick fly by posting as I frantically throw things in a suitcase! I'm off in a couple of hours to Yeovil for the completion of the major project at work. Won't be back until Friday night and won't have any internet access in the meantime :(
I shall miss t!m on QVC :( I shall miss this weeks WOYWW :( I shall miss the no doubt incoherent posting from Linda E when she gets back from meeting t!m :(
On the plus side, I am going to visit Creative Moments while I am in Yeovil. Not having a LSS is a pain, so it's always fun visiting somewhere there is one and having a rummage :)
I have packed my art journal, some watercolour pencils, Pitt pens, a glue stick, scissors and some bits of this and that so I can make some ~~mess~~ art if I get a chance in the evenings.
Catch up with you all next weekend (if I have any energy left!)

WOYWW

2010-02-17T16:28:00.000Z

It is Wednesday, isn't it? Big project completing next week so I have been busy, busy, busy getting everything in place and have no idea where the time is going to! Anyway, I have been crafting, a little bit. I was looking at one of my new stamps, another Divine Missives one: The Gaze, and thinking I wished I could stamp it onto one of my backgrounds for my postage stamp book, but with the colours of the background showing through the main stamp and the flesh parts coloured in flesh. I could have messed around with acetate, but I didn't have any to hand. I did, however, have a piece of Safmat sitting there minding it's own business, so I decided to try that. Stamped the image in black stazon then coloured in the flesh with some blended prisma colour pencils. I'm quite pleased with it.

Crappy photo though - not my usual camera. I just snapped this quickly with my cheapie handbag camera as I was on the way out to work this morning so I could upload it during the day. I gave her a surround of gold Ferro stamped with some text and flourishes then, when that was dry swiped some precious metal paint in Copper over the top. Then I realised my fatal error...... I'd done it all upside down!!! So I used some of t!m's metal foliage to hide the original hole and I'll make a new one at the top.

I've followed instructions and taken some pics of what's around my desk. Here is a pic of the chest of drawers and the shelf unit balanced on the top of it that sits in the recess behind me, and the wall storage hanging thingy wotsits that are on the chimney breast beside me. All very messy, much like everything else around me!

A Bit of Background

2010-02-14T14:59:00.003Z

This week I have been poorly sick. Started off on Monday with a bit of a throat lurgey thingy, but I had an urgent tender to get out (yes, another one! if one of them doesn't turn around after all the hard work I have put in I will scream!) so went in to work. Tuesday I was feeling even worse, but the tender still had work to be done on it, so I struggled in again and got sent home at lunchtime. I just crawled in to my bed and stayed there until Wednesday morning when I struggled in to work again and so on. Have spent most of the week just working and sleeping (with a bit of coughing and sniffing in between). Today I finally felt almost human again, so I had a play splurging around some inks and sparkly spray and dragging and dipping tags into it.

I had so much fun with those I decided to carry on with the same technique and make backgrounds for some of the stamp book pages I still have to complete. I also used some brilliance inks sprayed with plain water as they have enough sparkle of their own. You can't really see the depth of colour becuase the sparkle has picked up on the flash, but I just kept dipping and drying until I had the depth and layering I wanted.

I still had some ink left on my craft sheet so I dragged some of my art journal pages through it. Not so much depth of colour on these, but these pages already had some old text pages stuck in and gessoed, so there are layers there already.

I used up the last of the sparkly spray (water and cosmic shimmer powder) to spritz over a couple of other prepared art journal pages just to give them a bit of sparkle. Not much to show for a whole week is it?!! Actually, I have finally got around to completing my week 3 of 52 in 10, but it is very personal. I realised what was giving me so much trouble and why I was avoiding doing it, so I did it, but it isn't for sharing, not in public anyway. I have shown it to my DDs, but they are the only people who will see it, for now anyway.

Oh, I have finished (at least I think I have, for now) with my first ever proper page in my first ever proper art journal. It is a Moleskine sketch book now no longer all beautiful and blank. I have lots of prepared backgrounds and now, one complete double page... ta da

Page 5 and 6

2010-02-06T21:15:00.001Z

After another hectic week I got to relax today and finally got around to doing another couple of pages of my Maya Road postage stamp book. I've been dying to use this stamp, it's Rose from the Divine Missives range by Stampington. I'm a huge Rennie Mackintosh fan so I just had to have it. I stamped some other Mackintosh roses around the edge from a Circa Designs stamp in Brilliance inks and coloured in the roses and the vine on the main image with metallic pens. The whole tag was inked with Tattered Rose distress inks. So, this is page 5 and it looks much more sparkly in real life.

This is page 6. The flower, background and saying are Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 stamps (Art-fully Said). This is my first ever Wendy Vecchi stamp, I have another on back order. I blame Ms Elbourne for this latest addiction. To be honest, I didn't have to do much, these stamps are so stunning they don't need much else to complete the piece. The lighter butterfly is a Maya Road chipboard one coloured with Brilliance ink and a couple of pearls for the body, and the darker one is a fabric one with beads stitched on. I picked up a pack of them at an Ally Pally show, but can't remember which stand!

52 in 10 Week 4

2010-01-31T12:06:00.000Z

I know, I know, it's week 5 already, but I only finished week 4 last night. The prompt was what songs of pieces of music move you and why. I started to collage album covers and images from my favorite artists and ran out of space, even over two A4 pages! LOL

I added in a few scraps of sheet music to the collaged images and used my new Stampotique music tag stamp as a base for the CDs. I journaled onto a couple of old software CDs and stuck those on to the page then used my Dymo to add the names of some more artists that I like. I journaled a few of the most profound pieces of music, but there are so many more! Like the journaling says: I don't have a theme tune, I have a sound track.... one that spreads over several boxed sets! I keep thinking of more tracks and more artists and punching out their names on the Dymo, so this may not be entirely finished for some time!

Little Balls

2010-01-28T19:39:00.000Z

The little balls of wool showing on my desk yesterday seem to have sparked some interest so I thought I would explain. Basically, I bought a couple of skeins of a silky wool in the sale last year with the intention of making some little crocheted flowers to use on LOs. I made one flower (which I now seem to have misplaced) then put the wool to one side. Unfortunately the demon cat found it. It's taken me months to untangle the mess and I've had to cut some of the knots to untie them properly which is why I've ended up with little balls.

In the meantime, I got bored with the idea of the flowers and decided to use some of the odds and sods of wool I have all over the place to make squares for an afghan. I've made two so far.... it might be a while until I've got enough to make a whole afghan! I am, however, guarding the wool from the nutty cat.

WOYWW

2010-01-27T20:36:00.000Z

Better late than never! My desk is digusting, truly! My excuse is I was working on my journal pages and had them drying, then I had to pack ready to head off to Birmingham on Monday. I didn't get home until quite late last night and have had to work late tonight. I've literally just got in and taken the pic.... drumroll please.....

I'm now going to hide in shame!

Very Busy Week

2010-01-24T12:47:00.000Z

This week has been rather hectic with the result that I have been left with very little time (or energy). I had an emergency site meeting in Yeovil, my six-monthly oncology follow-up (all clear thankfully, still waiting for the mammogram results though), had to pull a 12 hour day to catch up on urgent stuff at work.... phew!

All I have managed to do creatively is start preparing some backgrounds for an online art journaling course I am taking. I had been playing around with the idea for a while, and enjoyed the Soul Journaling stuff, so decided to just go for it. I signed up for Visual Journalism 101 with Pam Carricker details here. So far I have only managed to watch the video and read the download for week 1 and start my backgrounds. I have managed to slap a layer of paint on, then leave it to dry, then do another layer the next day. This first pic shows one with 3 layers of paint so far.

This one is a bit further along with some "imperfect" stamping (a very good technique for me as I find perfect stamping a bit of a challenge!) and some textures added. There is some clear gesso stamping you can't see which is going to be used as a resist once it dries thoroughly, then I get to add some "fly poo" ROFL. I used a Paperartsy mini text stamp for this one, and I have done another one with the same colours but using a music stamp for variety.

I haven't completed my 52 in 10 prompt 3 this week. The prompt was to think about what advice you would give your younger self. I know what I want to say, but I'm not sure how to say it, so I'm procrastinating. I've decided I am going to move on to prompt 4 which is up today and come back to prompt 3. I am preparing one of these background for it though once I am ready to journal my thoughts.

I'm also waiting to see what Document 2010 is all about. The first prompt goes live tomorrow, when I will be on route to Birmingham for a two day visit to a furniture trade show, so I won't get to find out properly until Tuesday night! Looks like another busy week ahead :(

WOYWW

2010-01-13T15:24:00.000Z

and what is on my desk is..... a mess! I have cropped out the worse bits and left in my half done journal page, a piece of cut 'n' dry foam, a tin of varnish, some wooden flowers and butterflies from some hangy thing I have been gradually dismantling, a pritt stick, more cut 'n' dry foam, an acrylic block, pliers, gold metallic pen and a green sharpie. Those are the identifiable bits anyway.

It snowed. Again. Got half way to the office and couldn't get any further so am now at home. Got a project at work that is going critical and a tender to get finished so I'm really POed about not making it in. Flippin snow, stupid trains! Ah well, at least I got to post my WOYWW.

A Huge Thank You

2010-01-10T18:35:00.000Z

to all the lovely people who made such supportive comments on my last post. I really do appreciate your kind thoughts and words and it has made me feel all soppy and mushy. Thank you sincerely, I am truly touched.
I have been meaning to get into this art journal lark for a while now, and finally decided to actually do something about it. I followed various links and trails and discovered Sarah Whitmire's Soul Journaling prompts here which have the advantage of being free so I thought I would give them a try before taking the plunge and paying for an online course. I have now built my "soul armor" and here it is:

I seem to have made it more of a soul barrier with a bit of armor hiding behind it, but I guess that says a lot about me. I'm not sure how much further I will go with Soul Journaling as I feel I want to explore a different direction from the one that the prompts are taking me. I have enjoyed making this page though, and I am feeling like taking a paid course could be worth it. First I have to read through the digi version of the first Somerset Studio Art Journaling magazine and see where I end up after that.

I've also done this weeks prompt for Scrapdolly's 52 in 10 project, so after a week of doing nothing very much creative I seem to have got my mojo back, YAY!!!

The prompt was to list your resolutions for this year. This year I am trying the One Little Word concept and my word is TIME, so this paper fit perfectly. It's a Tim Holtz paper, apparently, but I have no idea where or how I got it! The challenge was to add some stitching.... no way! So I cheated and used ribbon with stitching already on it for the tag, and stamped some faux stitching underneath the opening for the tag pocket. The reason for the introduction of the shades of orange was, I was merrily working away in green and ecru when I discovered I didn't have any green dymo tape, or even any black! Bummer! So I settled on orange and incorporated an orange flower and edged the tag with some spiced marmalade distress ink.

Pondering mortality

2010-01-09T15:29:00.000Z

I can't believe it's been almost a week since I last posted! I haven't done anything creative or crafty, or anything at all really!
Now that I am 50 I get to experience the joy of the mammogram and had my first one on Friday. All week I have been feeling restless, unsettled and generally wierd. I finally realised it was fear of the mammogram or rather of the results. Having been through cervical cancer and the treatment a couple of years ago I really don't want to have to go through it all again. Thing is, my mother had breast cancer and I took the pill for quite a while, both of which put me at increased risk of breast cancer myself. Add to that the previous cancer treatment which can, of course, cause cancer.
I'm just being morbid really, and I should just pull myself together and get over it. I just wish it was two weeks from now and I had my results and could forget the whole thing!
Anyway, I will leave you with a picture of a squirrel. He and I got into a bit of a disagreement a while ago because he wanted me to get away from his tree and I just wanted to take more pictures of him. Here he is telling me off:

First week for 52 in 10

2010-01-03T18:30:00.001Z

I mentioned in my last post that I had signed up for Scrapdolly's 52 in 10 project. Basically, Scrapdolly is turning 50 this year and wanted to mark the year with a project about her with prompts each week for the whole year (hence 52 in 10). As I am 50 and a half (my birthday is in June) and as I haven't really done anything about marking the half century other than think about it, I decided to join in.
I decided (or at least, I intend, although my
intentions tend to change quite a lot) to make this a sort of art journal type thing, although I have never done an art journal before so this is more my interpretation of what I think an art journal is. Anyway, I made a front and back cover from some heavy duty black chipboard cut to just over A4 size, and am using A4 card as the pages. For the front cover I slapped on some gesso, stuck on some book pages with gel medium then added some distress inks in Old Paper, Antique Linen, Peeled Paint and Tattered Rose over a Timeworks mask, then used printed images and stamps that seemed appropriate. The tiny picture of me as a baby (next to the 50 on the image of the LO) is an image transfer. I'm quite proud of how it turned out!

On the inside of the cover I used some text paper and just did a bit of an intro on some inked card, plus stuck Scrapdolly's pretty logo in again.

The first official prompt went live today and was to journal about the last decade from 2000 to 2010. I also wrote about that in my last post, so I was already thinking about this anyway. As such a lot had happened there wasn't much room for anything but journalling on the page:

I used some more of the text paper from the intro page to edge the cardstock then inked the page with Antique Linen and Old Paper, added some numbers then just wrote. I added some butterflies from a Paperartsy stamp once I had finished as they seemed appropriate. Can't wait for next weeks promt!