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June 25, 2011

I'm still alive !

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!

May 15, 2011

Various bits and pieces

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

May 07, 2011

Playing with Art Parts

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

May 01, 2011

Here he is.......

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

April 29, 2011

Another DD birthday

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!

April 10, 2011

Kaisercraft Paperartsy style

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

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

April 03, 2011

At Last!

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.

March 27, 2011

Chaos and Confusion

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

March 06, 2011

Alice Pocket Watch

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.

March 05, 2011

A new month crept up on me!

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 :)

February 27, 2011

Pay it Forward update

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

February 20, 2011

Domino (sort of)

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. 

February 12, 2011

Paying it Forward update

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 31, 2011

January's over!

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 :)

January 30, 2011

A thing with wings

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.

January 16, 2011

Pay it Forward

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!

January 08, 2011

It's Winter, OK?!!

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 :(