Sherry's Simple Blog

A Wintery Altered Matchbox

2012-01-25T15:26:00.000Z

I'm back on the matchboxes again - lol

The theme for this month on the Flickr group

Matchbox Monthly Swap

is 'sparkly, blue winter'.

I covered the matchbox with watercolour paper

sprayed with tones of blue.

The focal point on the top of the matchbox

is a sparkly white tree which is die cut shrink plastic

using the Sizzix Alteration Bigz die 'Branch Tree'.

I wound some white wire around a few of the

branches to hang some sparkly blue beads

- you see it is a magical winter tree!

I sprinkled some glitter here and there

and some sparkly flakes at the foot of the tree.

As you can see from the above photo, I glued

some lace on the edges and the ends (and the inside) were

covered with self adhesive glittery shiny paper.

For the drawer pull, I used a large holed bead

with a brad inserted through.

I filled the matchbox with an assortment of

little goodies - I tried to keep to the blue

and white/silver theme.

My swap partner

Lesley of Harmony Road Studio

has now received this matchbox

and I'm pleased to say she liked it - yay!!

Thanks for looking :)

Valentine's Day Craft Swap

2012-01-23T22:17:00.000Z

I know it's early and it's not Valentine's Day yet,

but I've already made my item for this swap

hosted by Amy on her blog

And Sew We Craft

and as my swap partner

Rae of Felt by Rae

has now received it, I can show it here.

I intended at first to make a padded heart and cut two

heart shapes from an old embroidered table runner.

This picture is of the back.

For the front I collaged various pieces of old lace

doilies and cheesecloth over the top.

I rubber stamped 'Love' onto a cotton scrap

and machine stitched the whole lot together

in a haphazard fashion.

As I was stitching it together it occurred to me

that rather than just being a padded heart,

it would be more useful as a pocket -

so I left the top unstitched.

(There is a layer of thin wadding between the

top and backing fabrics to give it more of a lightly quilted feel)

For the hanger I plaited three strands of string together.

As it was a pocket now, it needed a little gift inside!

This is the gift - a little Metal Pendant.

I was pleased with how the heart pocket turned out

so I made one to keep for myself too!

.... but there's no Valentine gift in mine -

oh yes, it's too early yet isn't it!

My inspiration for making this heart came from

Lilla of Just Lilla

who makes the most beautiful things and shares a

tutorial for a lace collage on her blog

which I followed when making my hearts.

I was lucky enough to win one of Lilla's lace collages

in the form a little book last year.

Isn't it beautiful!

Thank you Lilla for the inspiration,

and thank you for looking :)

What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday Week 137

2012-01-18T00:01:00.002Z

... or to be precise, look at what's on my workdesk Tuesday evening.

I am going to try to schedule this post to appear on Wednesday

(no, don't laugh - as the last and only time before that

I tried to schedule a post I failed miserably -

so if I fail again I'll expect a few titters -

mostly from me!)

Anyway, back to my desk .... I made a card - yay!!

This is a 'tent fold card' which I hadn't heard of before

seeing some in the February edition of

Craft Stamper magazine.

On pages 28 to 31 Joanne Wardle shows how to make

these simple and interesting cards which hold a secret panel -

a pull out strip of card which can be re-used as a bookmark.

Supplies I used to make the card were:

Artistic Outpost stamps - 'London Underground' set

Tim Holtz Kraft-Core Nostalgic Collection card

A Sizzix embossing folder (I wish they'd put the name on the folder)

Gold Pen, ribbon and a few brads.

What else is on my desk?

The parcel at the front in heart wrapping paper

is for a Valentines Day craft swap I'm taking part in.

I can't show a photo of what I made yet as it's all very secret squirrel!

The pile of papers towards the back are what I retrieved

from the loft last week including my old school reports, old letters

and photographs etc. I am going to use copies of some of it

on a small canvas for the final part of the

She-Art Workshop

- I just haven't got around to it yet - you know how it is!

There's a few wooden blocks on the desk too - I ripped some of the

red rubber (stamps) from them last week - and very satisfying it was too.

I just need to remove the very sticky residue,

and then decide what to do with the blocks.

Finally, on the pile of old papers you may be able to see

a large sheet of pink scrapbook paper, glass beads,

a pink silk flower and a silver butterfly.

These were items sent to me by my lovely blogging friend

Mrs A of It's An Alien Life

who challenged me to a '4 piece swap' -

we send four items to each other and make something

with them adding items from our own stash and then send it back.

I keep changing my mind as to what to make!

At least it's keeping the old grey matter working.

If you want to see more workdesks hop on over to Julia's blog

Stamping Ground

where you can have a great nose around!

Thanks for visiting - if you have a desk on show this week,

I'll try to come and look at yours - and even if you haven't,

I'll still come over - delaying tactics for the 4 piece swap

(shhh, don't tell Mrs A!!)

Ta-ta for now!

Not So Friendly Plastic!

2012-01-14T18:48:00.000Z

I saw a blog post recently from

Elaine

who had found a box of Friendly Plastic amongst her craft stash that

she'd bought many years ago when it was being

sold off in a closing down sale.

She offered to share some of her supply but said as it was so

old it was quite brittle.

This is what she very kindly sent me (along with some Grungeboard pieces)

The individual strips were all in tact (apart from one tiny bit that had

broken off) when it arrived and I thought that it was fine.

When I cut into a strip though it shattered into tiny pieces!

Elaine was right - it had become brittle with age.

I compared it with some of my own strips (which I'd bought about

four years ago) and although they looked the same,

the newer ones were much more pliable and didn't

snap when flexed.

However, I kept calm and carried on - spoke to it nicely

and the plastic became friendly again!!!

I cut the brittle plastic and made little piles of it

on my black craft sheet - starting with the red central cross

and heated it with my heat gun - and it all melted together nicely.

I then made piles for the white sections and then the blue -

it melted into each other so the Union Jack flag

took on a rather stylised image, but I quite liked the effect.

I made a little post it note book using two chipboard covers

with a Bind-it-all spine and hot glued the Friendly Plastic flag on.

The 'Keep Calm and Carry On' is a rubber stamped image

from the 'London Underground' set from 'Artistic Outpost'.

I stamped another image from the same stamp set

onto the back of the book.

This little book will be winging it's way over to Elaine

as a thank you for her generosity.

Thanks for looking x

Another Triptych ATC - and Happy New Year!!

2011-12-31T19:06:00.000Z

Following on from yesterday's post I made another triptych ATC,

although this is a more formal, serious one - lol!

It's another 'altered head' one and I used a

postage stamp over the head of the stamped image

the idea coming from the 'Postage People' tutorial video.

I used paints to merge the postage stamp into the image,

you can see the edges of the stamp at the neckline if you look closely.

The image is a rubber stamped one this time,

- called ' Madame's Portrait' from B Line Designs.

I added lace and beads to finish it off.

The ATC base is a piece of Tim Holtz' Kraft-Core card

from the 'Nostalgic Collection'.

Well that's about it for now ....

except of course to wish you all a

Happy New Year

and thank you for all your visits and comments

left here on my blog - which still astounds me (the comments

and visits that is, not my blog!!)

I hope the New Year brings all that you want but

most importantly that it is a Happy and Healthy one!

Ta ta for now xx

Triptych ATC Swap

2011-12-30T12:39:00.000Z

The current swap over on the Flickr group

Art 'n' Soul as chosen by Deb

is to create a triptych ATC using one of two formats.

I chose the easier option a gatefold ATC.

The theme is 'Altered Heads' and the head of whatever

image we choose may be altered in any way we like.

I remembered seeing a great tutorial video once

and managed to find it again called

'Postage People'

where a postage stamp was used

over the head of an image in a collage.

I decided to go along those lines too.

Starting with an image which I cut out - and cut off

the head completely, I replaced it with an old postage stamp.

I then merged the postage stamp into the image by

drawing in the shoulders and joining it to the main image.

Before all that though I started with a piece of white card

covered it with some book text, painted with acrylics and spritzed

(Crafty Notions - Creative Colour - Spraypaque Fire Opal)

to give it a lovely glimmer.

I hot glued a piece of sari ribbon across the back.

The centre back panel will be covered with

my details before I send it out.

For the front edges I die cut (Alterations/Sizzix On The Edge

'Plaque and Postage') a strip of card decorated in the same

way as the rest of the card.

The little head I cut off from the main image fitted just

right in the hand and appeared to be looking up at the

new head. It therefore had to become Shakespeare's Yorick

from Hamlet - the words I used were the best

I could come up with!

I added three bells to a jump ring and tied them to

each end of the sari ribbon - so it's nice and jingly too!

The deadline for this swap isn't until 15th February

so I'm nice and early!

Thanks for looking :)

Aaron's "He-Art"

2011-12-29T10:42:00.000Z

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and enjoyed the festivities

and got all that you wished for from Santa.

We had the pleasure of the company of our nephew and niece

again over the past few days

and following on from my previous post where

Chloe created her own She-Art girl, this time, Aaron (aged 8)

got to do his very own version - a He-Art boy!

Aaron is not afraid to show his feminine side and chose

very glittery paper to dress his boy - he was going for

a football outfit - hence the pink shiny shorts!

His canvas started off with a variety of map pieces from

an old Atlas, then a combination of acrylic paints and mica sprays,

stencilling through sequin waste and using bottle tops etc.

(he did get very messy!)

Aaron chose the words

"Face Your Fears Not Your Tears"

which is a saying he's been bandying about

ever since visiting the

Adventure Island amusment park at Southend-On-Sea

and watching a roller coaster called 'Rage'

which he's too young to ride on at the moment.

I think those words were the perfect finishing touch

to his canvas and we both loved what he achieved.

So there it is - "He-Art" or Yeeehaa as we were calling it - lol.

Thanks for looking :)

Chloe She-Art!

2011-12-21T19:23:00.000Z

My niece Chloe (aged 11) worked along side me in my craft room over

the last few days and we made some She-Art together.

She was a little reluctant at first, but just look at the

beautiful She-Art Girl she created!

We used dressmaking tissue for the base, then a

combination of acrylic paint and mica sprays

brayered, scraped and stencilled on.

Chloe chose the words 'What's not to love' which were on

printed on her T-Shirt and seemed to fit perfectly!

As Chloe is my little ray of sunshine, those were

the words I chose to put on my She-Art Girl.

Chloe's little brother Aaron was a little upset as he didn't get

to play with us so I've promised next time we'll try to

create some He-Art!

Watch this space!

Christmas Card - Simon Says Stamp - Projects with depth

2011-12-12T18:16:00.000Z

I've decided to make only one special card this year

and it's for my Mum and Dad.

It's based on one of the tags from

Tim Holtz 12 tags of Christmas from last year

- tag number one in fact and you can see it here.

The background is Adirondack dye inks

- Denim for the sky and Lettuce for the land.

I brayered the inks on - Barbara Gray of Clarity Stamps style

- at least that's what I attempted, she makes it look so easy

on her TV demos. My background is rather flat so I blinged it up

at bit with some twinkling stars (Silver Stickles).

The stamped Santa in his sleigh with his reindeers in front

of the moon is from 'A remountable set of Christmas miniatures'

from Claritystamp.

The house is die cut from Grungeboard using the Rickety House

Bigz Sizzix die and Notebook Texture Fade embossing folder.

The windows have acetate behind them coloured with 3D Crystal Lacquer

- I think an orange colour rather than yellow would have been better

as the the yellow is a bit too similar to the colour of the land.

If you look closely you may be able to see a Christmas tree

through the downstairs window

(it's actually a Christmas button embellishment).

Can you also see who's peeping around the porch -

if he's there, I don't know who that is in the sky steering the sleigh!!

The fence in front of the house is also die cut from the Sizzix Alterations

range of 'On The Edge' Bigz dies called 'On the Fence'

I glued it down only at each end, thereby creating a bend in it,

giving it some dimension.

I'm hoping that this card fits the theme on the current challenge at

Simon Says Stamp and Show

which is

"Thru' the Looking Glass - Projects with Depth"

There are some amazing projects full of stunning dimension on

their blog from the Design Team - well worth a drool over.

This is the first time I've joined in with one of their challenges,

so really hope my card fits the bill.

Thanks for looking :)

Christmas Ornaments - again!

2011-12-12T16:23:00.000Z

Here are the Christmas ornaments I received back from the swap

I took part in recently on the Button Floozies blog.

The wire heart green ornament was made by

Barbara of Vintage Bunty

The red and white candy cane was made by

Zoe who doesn't have a blog just yet

The button Raggedy Annie doll was made by

Mrs A of It's An Alien Life

All the ornaments are completely different and I love them all!

Thank you again ladies.

The ornaments I made for my swap partners were Button Angels

and the blog post showing them is here if you want to see them.

I recently made a couple more for my niece and nephew

who have a small tree of their own in their respective bedrooms

(as seems to be all the rage these days!)

Blue for a boy

and pink for a girl!

We had intended putting our Christmas tree and decorations up at the weekend but after spending the best part of the day sorting out the

garden / greenhouse / shed for over winter we couldn't muster up

any energy and enthusiam to climb up the loft!

We'd better get a move on - as there's only 12 days to go

according the Christmas Countdown Calendar!

Do you want to know what I was doing exactly

nineteen years ago today?

.... becoming a Mrs!

Thanks for looking :)

Christmas Button Tin

2011-12-02T13:12:00.000Z

It started off as an Altoids mint tin

I gathered together some bits and pieces

and gave the tin a coat of gesso

I need not have bothered with the gesso though

as I covered the tin top and bottom with fabric

The flowers I made last year with two punches

one punched out the shape and the other embossed it

I rubber stamped the ticket onto white card,

coloured it and gave it a coat of glossy Mod Podge

to stiffen it.

(Stampers Anonymous - Tim Holtz Collection

'Odds and Ends CMS100')

I kept the inside simple with two

large Christmassy stickers -

I don't normally like to use stickers but these

fitted the bill perfectly and it was really

all about the buttons inside!

I managed to fit in just over 100 buttons

in the tin in the Christmassy colours of

red, white, green, gold and crystal

Ta-da!!!!!!!

Thanks for looking, I appreciate it x

Christmas Ornament Swap: She-Art Style!

2011-11-27T19:32:00.000Z

This swap was for the Flickr group

Altered Dominos & Other Altered Game Pieces

and was to make a handmade Christmas ornament

that included in it's design one or more game piece of some sort

and the theme was "What Christmas means to me".

Well, Christmas means so many things of course,

but it wouldn't be Christmas without a tree!

The trees in these pieces are made from

chipboard game tiles from a Junior Scrabble set.

Being chipboard they were easy to cut into triangle-ish

shapes with scissors.

My ornaments are small wall hangings.

The base are pieces of balsa wood

which I decorated with some old book text and

music paper then added various mediums to colour

and added a She-Art girl to stand beside the tree.

Each tree was topped off with a 'crystal' from

an old chandelier.

The hangers are wire strung with a few jingle bells.

These are quite grungy and not your traditional type

of Christmas ornaments but I hope the recipients

will like them anyway.

Thanks for looking :)

Here Come The ...... Angels

2011-11-26T20:02:00.002Z

I recently took part in a handmade Christmas ornament swap

on the Button floozies blog.

The brief was

"Definition of a button ornament:

A Christmas ornament made to hang on a tree or to be a small shelf or table accent, that is decorated with buttons. The buttons do not necessarily need to be the only decoration element of the ornament -- but it should be a main or special element of the decoration. Your ornament should be handmade"

I decided to make some Button Angels as this was a good

excuse to make some more little clay faces which if you are

a regular visitor here, will know I'm just a little bit fond of!!

Each angel consisted of a triangle body and wings shape.

Here's my templates - they're crumpled as I had binned them,

but then thought they might be a useful reference to have on this post.

The bodies were cut from white felt (2 triangles for each angel)

A piece of wood to be glued between the triangles.

I hand stitched the buttons on the fronts

(it didn't take all that long really)

For the back I had sequins on a strip of fabric so they

were easily (and quickly) hot melt glued on.

The heads were hot melt glued onto the tops of the wooden sticks.

The wings were cut from white felt too

and embellished with wide gold ribbon

which I needlefelted on.

All the layers were then put together - a little bit

of hot melt glue down the stick and some hand stitching

down the sides and they were (almost) done.

All they needed now was some hair and a crown.

The hair was wool from a scarf

and the crown some glittery ribbon.

Here's some close ups

(Do you like the colour of our bedroom wall by the way - lol)

I glued a loop of gold thread at the back so they could hang.

All the three ladies I was grouped with have now received

their angels and I'm delighted that they are pleased with them.

I also received three lovely ornaments back which I'll blog

about separately.

Thank you all for a lovely swap

and to Laurie of Button Floozies for organising this.

Finally, thank YOU for looking xx

The Play Date Cafe - colour challenge PDCC108

2011-11-23T22:30:00.002Z

The current colour challenge over on

The Play Date Cafe

is to create something using the colours

Maroon...Copper...Tumeric

This gorgeous colour combination made me think of

exotic places and spices

.... so please meet 'Jameela' from India.

(sorry about the poor photograph, it's too bright)

Her sari is made from sari ribbon - what else!

Her hair is black embroidery thread.

The bracelets are copper coloured jewellery wire.

The background has in it coppery mica accents from Starburst Stains

which doesn't show up very well in the photographs.

Here you can see what's she wearing underneath the sari.

I had a look on Google and found an interesting site about

how to wear a sari, so loosely based this outfit on that.

This colour challenge runs for another week yet

(I wish I realised that earlier when I thought I was too late)

- there is a prize for a lucky participant

and you may even get an honourable mention.

If you want to see some more projects using these colours,

there is a linky dinky thingy here.

Thanks for looking at mine -

and a Happy Thanksgiving to all our American friends xx

What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday Week 129

2011-11-23T15:16:00.000Z

I'm sorry to say I haven't played along with WOYWW for ages

but as I had some lovely things in the post today I thought

I'd share them here.

This beautiful little cutie is 'Button Annie'

and was made for me by the wonderfully talented

Mrs A of It's an Alien Life blog

It was for a Christmas Ornament swap on a blog called

Button Floozies

(if you love buttons, this blog is well worth a look)

I have made my ornaments for the swap too but can't blog

them until I know they've been safely received.

Also in my post today was this delightful shoulder bag made by

Linda of Lins Arty Blobs

which I was lucky enough to win in her recent giveaway.

It's velvet and the snowman image is one of her own designs which she digitally printed onto a cotton fabric.

Another super talented person!

What else is on my desk?

A paper doll in progress which I'm hoping to finish today, although

so far all I've done is cut out the arms and body and painted the head!

What do some of you say? Pile 'em high and push 'em back -

or something like that!

This is an assorted pile of bits and pieces from my stash

to complete Christmas projects.

I needed some room on my workdesk yesterday to put my

iron and this lot was scattered all over the place

so I just piled it up and pushed it back!

Well, I think that's about it for now.

If you don't know what WOYWW is all about, go have a look at

Julia's blog - Stamping Ground

where all will be revealed - along with over ninety other blogs

for your perusal if you so wish!

Finally may I wish to those of you who celebrate it,

Happy Thanksgiving xx

The Craft Barn's amazing giveaway!

2011-11-15T12:29:00.000Z

Have you seen this yet?

The Craft Barn

are having a giveaway of

over £200 of crafting goodies !!

What are you waiting for, get yourself over there -

click on either the link or the photo above.

You have until November 25th to enter.

The lucky winner will be announced on their blog by the end of the month.

GOOD LUCK!!

The Play Date Cafe Challenge PDCC107

2011-11-14T19:03:00.000Z

This week's challenge over at

The Play Date Cafe

is to create something using the colours

black & white with a SPLASH OF ORANGE.

For my doll this week (who's called Clementine!)

I gave her a black dress with white belt

made from sari ribbons needlefelted onto a piece of white felt.

Her hair is from an old wool scarf and is swept up with

a piece of orange ribbon.

She's wearing a necklace and bracelet of white pearls.

For the background, I used mountboard covered with old text

painted white and added a splash of orange paint here and there.

Thanks for looking and if you'd like to see more of this

colour combination there's a linky thing here.

She-Art - the journey continues.

2011-11-13T13:05:00.000Z

I've completed week 2 of this on line course -

click on the picture below if you want more details.

This week it was all about creating layers -

landscapes and clothing and of course, two more She Art Girls.

I was a bit more adventurous this week and worked on

artists' canvas board although only small ones

measuring 7" x 5".

For the background of this one, no scrapbook or other papers

were used, just paint, sprays, crayons etc.

Apart from the birds that is, they are gingham fabric.

I originally cut a 'bird shape' from paper,

but as my husband pointed out when I showed him

it looked a bit like a daschund dog sitting on a line - lol -

it really did, and was far too big - so I scraped it off

and rubber stamped two birds onto fabric and am

much happier with the overall look.

The layered skirt is created with strips of paper

folded up to resemble ruffles.

I think she looks a bit like a bag lady.

Do you remember the lovely song

'Streets Of London' by Ralph McTell

".... carrying her home in two carrier bags ..."

My bag lady has left London behind for the day

and had a day out in the countryside.

I decided to make the next one a bit brighter.

This time scrapbook paper was used as a starting point

for creating the landscape - then a little bit of everything else!

(I don't think my craft room has ever been messier!)

The dress has a layered skirt.

The words I chose are from a selection provided by

Christy Tomlinson

"She knew where she was from"

and this reminded me of another song

"Where Do You Go To My Lovely" by Peter Sarstedt

My girl - or should I say Marie-Claire has left

".....St Moritz and the others of the jet-set....."

for the day and has joined the Bag Lady for a day in the

English countryside!

The final week of the course is next and it's about

creating a She-Girl based on our own photograph - doh!

Don't like the sound of that, but I'll have a go.

Thanks for looking :)

"What's On Your Head" Challenge!

2011-11-08T19:33:00.001Z

This challenge is over on

The Order of the Opus Gluei

and set by the very lovely and witty

Gini.

The challenge is to make any type of project but there must be something

on the head of the subject. Gini invites either traditional head wear

or more wackier interpretations - anything goes really!

Well I took the traditional route (quelle surprise!) and used two rubber stamps by Dina Wakley (Create with Abandon and Lonely Girl).

I painted the background, glued an old book page onto card,

rubber stamped the Lonely Girl on, stamped out her crown

and stuck it on with 3D tab and rubber stamped the

Create with Abandon text.

The little fibre bow is attached with a sticky dot.

Sorry Gini, I can't think of a funny story to go with the card,

but I do have a song in my head now ~

"Homely girl, you used to be so lonely

You're a beautiful woman oh yeah"

by UB40 - Beautiful Woman

Thanks for looking :)

Patched with love - finally!

2011-11-07T19:15:00.000Z

I finally finished this patchwork quilt about half past midnight last night.

It's been a work in progress for several years.

It started off with twelve small cross stitched cards some made by me and

some by my sister many years ago. They were originally cards for our

Mum and of course she kept them and passed them onto me a few

years ago. I

Using up some little patchwork fat quarters I bought at craft shows

years and years ago, I put the two together and made something

resembling a quilt!

All the cross stitched 'squares' are grouped together.

As they were all different sizes a few are on their side

(horizontal rather than portrait).

The reverse of the quilt I made up with an assortment of fabrics

The colours don't really 'go', but I liked the large piece of fabric

with the Teddy Bear family and it saved me doing more patching!

I didn't quilt the whole thing as it all started

to pucker up!

I bought some bias binding to go around the edge.

Just look at that perfect stitching - I liked it so much

I stitched over it again and again in places!!!

The problem was the bias binding was too narrow and the machine

stitching kept missing it!

Never mind, it's finished - yay!!!!

I took it to my Mum this morning and she loved it.

Even my Dad said it looked like a real patchwork quilt!

That'll do for me - true praise indeed!

A little pucker it was to do, but totally stitched with love xxx

The Play Date Cafe - colour challenge PDCC106

2011-11-05T21:41:00.000Z

This week's challenge over on

The Play Date Cafe

is to create something using the colours

Grey...Yellow...Pink

I had a problem thinking 'pink' when the colour square in their

picture above was more of a dusty tone.

I decided to work with a 'pink' which looked more like the colour square

rather than a bright pink I had in my mind.

I've been making a doll each week for these challenges so thought

I'd make a dress with pink and yellow ribbon.

When it came to it though, I just didn't like the combination

so made a background with the colours instead

It's mountboard covered with book text then coloured with

a combination of paints and mica sprays.

There's a little silver in there too to represent the grey.

Instead of a dress, I made her a trouser suit - that

sounds so dated now, what shall I call it - an 'all in one' perhaps,

although it is actually a two piece!

Her shawl is some sheer grey ribbon

and her hair is grey coloured embroidery thread.

Her name is 'Gray' and here's a close up of her face.

Her pink clothes look darker than the colour square,

but her lips at least are pink!

If you want to see some more of this colour combination

Grey...Yellow...Pink

there is a linky whatsit on

The Play Date Cafe

and I'll be adding mine to it shortly.

Thanks for looking :)

"She-Art" - I could resist no longer!

2011-11-04T10:05:00.000Z

After seeing various 'She Art' on lots of different blogs,

I finally gave in and signed up to the She Art Workshop by

Christy Tomlinson.

(click on the picture below for further details)

I've just completed week one and created my very own 'She Art Girls'

I wasn't brave enough to work directly onto proper canvases so

each one of these is a piece of loose canvas measuring

approx 3 and a half by 5 and a half inches.

This first one started off with a tissue dressmaking pattern

and I was so pleased with how it turned out.

The words I chose for the first girl was 'Practice Makes Perfect',

this second one I wasn't so pleased with, and decided yes -

'It's all about the Journey'

This one started off with various book and music pages -

and can you see the ticket too?

The final one - 'tell me the truth' .... no don't

I may not like the answer - lol.

This one started with various scraps of scrapbooking paper.

I really enjoyed making this art and look forward

to seeing where the 'journey' takes me next!

The Play Date Cafe - colour challenge PDCC105

2011-10-29T18:38:00.001+01:00

This week over at the

The Play Date Cafe

the challenge is to create something using the colours

Kraft/Taupe...Flesh...Cadet Blue

Well, here's my take on the challenge -

meet Medusa!

I cut the bodice from a scrap of leather but used the

reverse (suede-y)side as the colour better fitted the challenge.

I sewed on a strip of lace at the top.

The skirt and wrap are both sari ribbon - I've been lucky

that for the past three weeks of joining in with these challenges,

I've had just the right colours of fabric.

The 'Medusa' locks are part of a recycled scarf.

Her face is moulded from air dried clay and painted with acrylics

and water colour pencils.

She is mounted onto mountboard which I covered with

brown paper, then distressed a bit with masking tape, gesso-ed,

painted and added some Brilliance Dew Drop ink

-colour Pearlescent Sky Blue.

I also had some sari ribbon which complemented the

colours so added that to the edge of the background too.

I stuck everything down with good old glue sticks using a glue gun

- I was amazed that the glue didn't come through to the front of the

sari ribbon, it must be extremely strong fabric.

I don't know how it will 'age' though (the glue that is)

as it isn't acid free. As Medusa is staying with me though,

it doesn't really matter - we can age together gracefully,

although I think I've got quite a start on her!

Thanks for looking :)

An Altered Tin: 'Fall in love with Buttons' Swap

2011-10-29T12:22:00.001+01:00

'Fall in Love with Buttons' is a swap I joined in with on a lovely blog called

Button Floozies.

"With Autumn soon upon (most of) us, I thought it would be a lot of fun to have a Fall-themed swap! The Fall in Love with Buttons Swap is one-to-one; that is, each participant will be paired up with a swap partner. We will each alter an Altoids tin, filling it with autumn colored or autumn themed buttons, and send it to our partner!"

I love buttons (well, who doesn't!) and I love sorting

through them, so couldn't wait to alter a tin to fill it up -

I had to though as I didn't

have the right sized tin but found one on Ebay.

I painted the tin with a coat of white acrylic,

then covered it with some Autumnal patterned Decopatch paper.

I cut some leaves from scraps of leather

using the Tim Holtz' Alterations/Sizzix 'Tattered Leaves' die.

I found a couple of wooden beads to represent berries.

I stitched the leaves and berries onto an old doily flower then stuck it

onto the lid. I also added a couple of Autumnal themed buttons.

I remembered a poem learnt at school, well the first few

lines of it anyway - Ode to Autumn by John Keats.

I Googled and found it, printed out a few lines

and added them to the outside and inside of the lid.

Then the best bit - finding all the Autumnal coloured buttons

to go inside - I must admit I wanted to keep them all - lol!

Here's all the buttons I managed to cram inside the tin.

Unfortunately my swap partner hasn't confirmed whether or not

she's received the tin yet, although as I sent it out at the end

of last month it should have arrived by now.

This is how I wrapped it - the button card (gift tag) is a rubber stamped

image from the 'Very Vintage Set 3 La Couture' A Katy Fox Collection

from Toodles and Binks.

If you want to see some of the other altered tins and buttons

there is a Linky thingy on the Button Floozies blog here

and some more on the Button Floozies Swaps

group on Flickr here.

Thanks for looking at mine :)

The Play Date Cafe - colour challenge PDCC104

2011-10-24T20:47:00.000+01:00

This week over at

The Play Date Cafe

it's their '2nd Anniversary Challenge' & to celebrate

they have lots of lovely prizes to give out to lucky participants.

It was my first time joining in last week and I was thrilled to

get so many lovely comments and also a little award

for my blog - yay!!

Thanks guys!!

This week's (Anniversary) challenge is to use the colours

Mauve...Egg Yolk...Artichoke

What fabulous colours they are too!

I've decided that whenever I join in with these challenges

I will make a doll of some sort and mount it on a card

as I did last week.

As luck would have it I had some sari ribbon with two

of the colours already combined!

I machine stitched a few strips together to make the skirt.

The bodice is silver self adhesive tape coloured with alcohol inks

and roughly embossed freehand with a pointy stick.

Her shawl is more of the sari ribbon but with some felting yarn

meshed into it I did this with my new needle felting tool.

How easy it was to do too!

The background card is old music and book pages

coloured with distress ink and acrylic paint.

Her face is moulded from air dry clay and coloured

with water colour pencils and acrylic paint.

Her hair is mohair fleece.

(I've just realised I didn't give her any pupils in the eyes - oops!!)

Thanks for looking x

'Tim in Ten' and 'Quixotic Inspirations Sketch Challenge'

2011-10-23T17:51:00.003+01:00

I had to make a birthday card and I didn't have much time

(well, that's not strictly true, but I didn't want to spare the time when there's so many other crafty things to do!)

However, it had to be done, and when I saw the sketch challenge on

Quixotic Inspirations

I decided to play along!

I kept it simple, just how I like it (well, that's not strictly true either but I couldn't come up with anything better in the time I allowed!)

I also decided to play along with the challenge over on

Studio L3:Grungy Monday

which was a speed challenge (just 10 minutes to make a card)

and where at least one Tim Holtz product should be used.

Originally I thought I couldn't possibly make a card in ten minutes

but an email from Terry reminded me that the ten minutes

was for the actual creating (not for the idea or getting the supplies together!)

I had no excuse then did I!

I still kept it simple though - oh well!

The items I used to make the card were as follows:

Stampers Anonymous - Tim Holtz Collection 'School Desk CMS057' stamp (the rectangle note pad)

The Artistic Stamper 'Botanical 2 A5#056' (The rulers, ink bottle and nib)

Hero Arts 'CL289' (the 'For You' sentiment in the circle)

If you're still reading this,

thanks for looking :)

Bookmark (and tag) for Christmas!

2011-10-21T19:56:00.000+01:00

That's the theme over on the Flickr Art 'n' Soul group for the

swap challenge which runs until 1st December ...

"to make a BOOKMARK with a VINTAGE theme AND include LACE somewhere on the project - you can make the actual bookmark from any medium you wish providing it is sturdy enough to be used and adorn it any way you want to as long as it has a vintage/shabby chic theme!"

For my bookmark then, I cut up an old dressmaking tissue pattern

and stuck on an image photocopied from the packet -

then gave the whole thing a couple of layers of Mod Podge.

The Mod Podge dries clear and leaves the tissue much sturdier

and prevents it from tearing.

I machine stitched it onto some cotton fabric

and added a lace flower aged with some Tea Dye coloured Distress Ink.

I didn't do anything to the button, it was like that - just old and shabby!

I added a few layers of lace to the bottom

and the back is covered with lace too.

The ribbon threaded through the top is seam binding

distressed with more of the Tea Dye coloured Distress Ink.

(In reality it isn't that deep a colour)

This is a two part challenge as we also had to make a tag ....

"You must make a Christmas themed tag to go with your bookmark - so your partners will receive a scrummy Christmas pressie bookmark wrapped with a nice Christmas tag"

I actually prefer the tag to the bookmark!

I made it in the same way.

The band of Christmas greetings at the top is part of a ribbon

I saved from a Lush parcel last year.

The hat is a Christmas button which I think looks rather fetching!

I stitched plain paper to the back so there is somewhere

for the message to be written.

They both look like tags, or they both look like bookmarks -

whatever you prefer - lol.

I hope the button emellishments aren't too bulky though

for bookmarks (oops, I should have thought of that earlier!)

Thanks for looking :)

The Play Date Cafe - colour challenge PDCC103

2011-10-16T14:58:00.001+01:00

This is my first time playing along with

The Play Date Cafe

challenge blog and I hope

it isn't my last!

The colours we had to use in any project of our choice were

'Rust', 'Storm' and 'Deep Sea'.

Well that was easier said than done!

Rust was no problem as I had some

Friendly Plastic and Sari Ribbon

which fitted the bill and became a bodice and sleeves.

The other two colours

Storm and Deep Sea

took me a little longer to come up with, but I eventually settled on

some more Sari Ribbon and thin cotton

which became the skirt. I also had some Friendly Plastic which

perfectly complemented these colours and that became the

heart shaped hands!

I didn't set out to make a witch, but that's what she looks like to me!

Her face is moulded from air dried clay painted with acrylic,

water colour pencils and a Sakura Jelly Roll pen.

Her hair is fibres and her hat is more of the Sari Ribbon.

I painted on the neck so the head didn't look as though

it was floating in space!

She is glued onto mountboard covered with

old sheet music coloured with paint and edged with a

copper coloured pen.

Only the head and the bodice are actually glued down

so the rest of her can move (not that I've been playing

with her or anything ... cough, cough!!)

I'd never have thought of putting these colours

together, but I do love the combination.

One last photo -

her best withchy pose ...

Thanks for looking - I'm off to find her a broomstick now!

Altered Cigar Box - for a Jam Maker

2011-10-11T19:35:00.001+01:00

When visiting hubby's niece recently she very kindly gave us a

jar of home made jam - and very yummy it is too!

A couple of days later I happened upon some little packets containing

'transparent jam pot covers' in a charity shop - what a co-incidence!

This gave me an idea of putting together a little box full of jam making accessories.

I remembered I had an old cigar box in my craft cupboard

just waiting for the perfect project!

I searched Flickr for some appropriate images I could use and

found these -

I painted the box with cream acrylic. Found some similiarly coloured

K & Co scrapbook paper, cut it to size and machine stitched around

the edge and also stitched the 'J' image on before sticking it

onto the box with Liquitex matte medium.

I added a rosette made up of vintage doilies and a gingham scrap,

some ribbon and a strip of Martha Stewart border punch

to resemble a crisp white linen tablecloth.

I also added the scrabble letters to spell out the name of the recipient and this idea I shamelessly copied from Jan of Jan's Arty Journey

who makes the most amazing collages.

Want to see the inside?

I used two of the same images again as well as the Jell-O one

and some rubber stamping from the 'Play Time - Set 1' by Toodles and Binks.

Here's the contents

Five packets from the charity shop, some assorted fabric circles

I cut with pinking shears and some ribbon to tie around the top

of the jam jars.

Here it is all neatly packed into the box and it's topped off with

a really old booklet I purchased from the internet called

'Why jams and jellies taste fresher when made the Certo way'

by Mrs Handy-Pandy and it contains hints on jam making

(not that Sue needs them of course!) and loads of recipes too.

I don't know how useful any of this will actually be,

but I had a lot of fun putting it all together.

I'll just have to pass it onto Father Christmas now for his safe keeping

until 25th December!

Thanks for looking :)

Stampotique Challenge - A Humorous Birthday

2011-10-11T12:05:00.000+01:00

The current challenge on the

Stampotique Designers Challenge

blog is to create a humourous birthday greeting.

For the background of my card I used old tissue paper

and book text that had previously been coloured with

Brusho powders and spray inks.

The saying of course isn't an original one, but

I thought it was quite fitting for poor old

'Prom Queen' who looks as though she needs a good haircut!

The hair is hand dyed (not by me) mohair fleece

and replaces Prom Queen's usual bunches

which I chopped off!

I printed the words onto copy paper and stuck them onto

the background. They are edged with gold pen although it isn't

very bright. The white dots around the words were made

with a white paint marker.

The challenge ends today so I'm just in time!

Thanks for looking,

and happy belated birthday wishes

to Vicki who chose this challenge.

Some ATCs for a change!

2011-10-04T18:11:00.000+01:00

I don't make many ATCs these days but when I saw

this post

from Penny in Maine, USA I had to join in!

Penny (of A Penny for your thoughts blog) invited participants

to make five ATCs and send them to her so she can make them

into little concertina books and send back out to the participants so

we can own a little bit of artwork from each other.

All my ATCs had Distress Ink backgrounds - you know, the method where

you swipe the pad across the craft sheet, mist with a little water

and glide your card across - great fun and you never know

what the results will be!

All the images used were rubber stamped Stampotique ones onto

card and stuck onto the ATCs.

Various bits of embellishment were added

and some more rubber stamping directly onto the ATCs.

Can't wait to see what ATCs I get back.

Penny told me she's already started work on the concertina books

and has had big sheets of tea dyed watercolour paper drying

in her back yard -

I wonder what the neighbours thought - LOL.

Vintage Tag Book

2011-10-02T13:15:00.000+01:00

I was looking for some pretty paper yesterday in my craft room

and turned to a plastic tub containing K & Co papers.

Inside, along with the pretty papers was this tag book

I made a few years ago.

I made it from a DVD by Wendie Rhodes called

'Cards, Boxes, Bags & Tags The EAZI Way'

She describes it as being similar to a

four fold concertina card.

Anyway, I made the basic book and naked tags which I cut by

hand as at that time I never had a Big Shot or any tag dies.

Once made, I just filed the book away in the tub.

So, being the easily distracted and fickle type of crafter that I am,

I totally forgot why I was looking for the papers yesterday and decided

to decorate the naked tags instead!

This gave me an opportunity to pull out loads of images

and scraps I've accumulated over the years

and to do some simple collage.

I think I always ponder too long over what should go where

whenever I attempt collage, but keeping it simple,

I quite like the results of the tags.

Here's what the back of the book looks like.

It's a nice feeling to complete something I started years ago!

Shame I can't do that with several pieces of cross stitches

I have stashed away somewhere!

Now, I really should go outside to the glorious sunshine

while it's still here!

Hope your day is sunny too x

What's On Your Workdesk? Week 120

2011-09-21T11:11:00.000+01:00

I don't usually play along with WOYWW as I go out early on a Wednesday

but hubby is on leave this week so I have a different routine

and can reveal my desk today!

Above photo is the long shot - you can see the fun bunting

I made at the weekend hanging from the bottom shelf.

All details and more pics are on the previous post if you're interested.

Here's a closer shot of what I'm working on at the moment.

The tin I've just covered in Decopatch papers as the first stage

in altering it for the

'Fall In Love With Buttons Swap'.

I'm not exactly sure of the next step yet, I just make it up

as I go along sort of thing! I've sorted out the autumn coloured

buttons that will go into though, they're in a little white tub

at the back of the photo.

What else? Five ATCs in really bright colours -

again just the first stage, they'll be quite a lot different when

they're finished.

They are for a swap I joined yesterday being hosted by Penny

A Penny For Your Thoughts

which sounds really interesting as she will collect together

five ATCs from different participants and send them out in the

form of a concertina book.

Finally I'll show you a close up of another tin.

I bought this in a charity shop last week.

I was intrigued by the tin as it was so old and rusty,

and when I looked inside it was full of old buttons!

Unfortunately, I didn't take a pic of the buttons

first, and have now sorted and merged them

into my collection.

I'm not sure what to do with the tin now though - any ideas?

That's about it really,

If you want to see more workdesks,

hop along over to Julia's blog

Stamping Ground

where you're find links to loads!

Have a great day, and thanks for looking :)

There'll Always Be An England ......

2011-09-19T17:58:00.001+01:00

.... or in my case, there'll always be a copycat!!

Yes, I must admit to a bit of blatant copying here.

As soon as I saw some Union Jack bunting made with the stamp

from the Artistic Outpost set, I just had to make some of my own!

The bunting is so easy to make - I love it!!!

Full credit to

Stamptramp

for this wonderful idea!

I used faded denim from some old jeans of mine to back the little flags on.

I rubber stamped the image onto white cotton fabric

using acrylic paint directly onto the stamp and spritzing with a little

water just before stamping.

I machine stitched the flags onto the denim backing fabric

and used seam binding to stitch them together.

It couldn't be easier!

I made some more in girly colours and added buttons to the centres.

Here's a peek at the back.

All I need now is another Royal Wedding,

I'd really go bunting mad then - LOL.

Thanks for looking :)

Stampotique Designer's Challenge: BOOKMARK

2011-09-13T15:04:00.000+01:00

The current challenge over on the

Stampotique's Designers Challenge

blog is to create a bookmark, any kind of bookmark using one of the fabulous Stampotique images.

I'd never heard of a corner bookmark before, but had a look on YouTube

and found a good tutorial here on which I based my bookmark.

The tutorial also shows how to incorporate the bookmark into a birthday card - what a

great idea!

The Stampotique rubber stamp I used is one of my favourites

'Moth Fab' by Daniel Torrente.

The back of the bookmark isn't as pretty, but you can see more clearly how it's made if I show you.

Here's the bookmark in action!

Peek-a-boo!!

... and last photo

I'd better go and link this to the Stampotique blog asap

as the challenge ends today!

Thanks for looking :)

Charms from Charm Swap and a Birthday Card

2011-09-13T13:44:00.000+01:00

A while ago I took part in a charm swap hosted by

Roni of Ink Stains

I made five charms and received 5 back together

with the silver charm pin as shown above.

The charms I received were made by

(from left to right)

Candy Colwell, Hecate Leigh,

Roni (the hostess),

Helen Cleary and Cheryl L.

A big thank you to all the above as I love the charms

and it's always so interesting to see the different techniques used.

Here's the charms I made for the swap.

If you click on the photo it should take you to my blog post

about how I made the charms.

Thanks again Roni for a great swap!

If you want to see all the different charms made

Roni has photographed them all on her blog

here, here and here.

Now for something completely different

(are you humming the Monty Python theme tune now....)

It's nothing at all to do with Monty Python (lol),

but a birthday card I made for my sister-in-law.

The background is a combination of stamps

from

Very Vintage Set 2 La Couture by Katy Fox

and

Vintage Sewing by Sam Poole for Creative Expressions.

The die cut shape is from

'The Sewing Room'

by Tim Holtz/Alterations range from Sizzix.

I embossed it, painted it and added a couple of embellishments.

Thanks for looking :)

I'm back and catching up!

2011-09-12T17:20:00.000+01:00

I've been home for a week now and the holiday seems so long ago!

Here's a few random photos - the location was Protaras in Cyprus.

This was at the Monastery in Ayia Napa.

This is the villa we stayed in.

The table secretly decorated for my sister's 40th birthday -

lucky she went to bed early the night before and it was awaiting her

in the morning!

One of her birthday treats was a Fish Pedicure!

Well, I had to have a go too of course.

Those little Garra Rufa fish sure did tickle!!

Well I did say they were random photos!

Back home and it was my birthday at the weekend.

Thank you again to those of you who kindly sent me lovely cards.

Want to see a photo of me?

No, I didn't think so, but I'm going to show you anyway

...... gasp, horror, whatever next - LOL

I'm the little one on the left (I wish!!).

Sorry Chloe xx

Blogging Break - and what makes me smile :)

2011-08-21T08:25:00.000+01:00

I'll be away for a couple of weeks on holiday -

just thought I'd let you know -

in case anyone wonders where I am -

- well, you never know!

I thought I'd share this little video with you

it never fails to make me smile

- I can't remember why!

Thanks for visiting xx

Watch The Birdies!

2011-08-17T00:36:00.000+01:00

There is a new swap using the

Tim Holtz 'Caged Bird' Sizzix Alterations die on

DragonsWeb.

As this is one of my favourite dies I couldn't resist joining in!

The base is mountboard (6" x 4") covered with assorted book pages and music sheets. I then distressed it with paint and distress inks using the brayer

and craft sheet.

Around the edge is metallic rub on paste.

The birdcages are cut from Grungeboard and coloured with

acrylic paints and more of the metallic rub on paste.

As the Grungeboard is very flexible, when I stuck it onto

the backgrounds (using E6000 adhesive), I was able to bend it

making it a bit three dimensional.

The words were printed off the computer onto ordinary copy paper

and stuck onto the background with Liquitex matte medium.

The birds were cut from scraps of leather,

I used the reverse (suede) sides

as it is softer and looked more like feathers (not a lot, but a bit!!)

The wings were attached with a small stitch

and the eyes are beads and sequins.

I finished them off with sari ribbons and beads

and think they look quite tweet!

If you want to join in with swap but don't have the Tim Holtz die,

you can use other birdcages - all the details can be found on

Dragon's blog along with some of her own beautiful examples.

40th Birthday Card .... for someone special!

2011-08-13T19:36:00.000+01:00

The someone special is my little sister whose birthday is later this month.

I don't know about you, but I always struggle with 'special' birthday cards

and am always stumped for ideas.

When I saw the latest challenge on the

Stampotique Designers Challenge blog

I decided to use that as a base for my card.

The challenge is to alter a book page, of any book.

I chose an old page from a novel which I coloured with some

acrylic paints then distressed with a few bits and pieces.

I made a stencil for the numbers 40 and sprayed some ink through it.

As it didn't show up very well, I machine stitched around it with red cotton.

I edged it with some red velvet ribbon and a little strip of lace.

The focal point of the card is 'Prom Queen' from Stampotique.

I rubber stamped her onto card and coloured with Stickles

and watercoloured with pencils highlights on her face.

She also has some fibres in her hair for her birthday bunches!

She's attached to the card with 3D foam strips.

The birthday flower rosette I made from scraps of lace and cotton

following the tutorial here.

There are lots of lovely examples on the Stampotique blog

which you can find here.

Thanks for looking at mine.

Funky Fowls from Norway

2011-08-03T10:26:00.001+01:00

These fantastic characters flew into my craft room today, they are

"Clara & Fredrikke, The Terrible Twos"

They also arrived with some lovely fabrics

.... and I even have patterns and instructions for making up

some of my own Funky Fowl projects!

If you're wondering why,

it's because I was lucky enough to win a 500th post giveaway from

Nina Lise

aka Mrs Moen

These two photographs are from Mrs Moen's blog and they show up all the wonderful stitching - I'll be amazed if I could achieve anything like this.

Thank you again Nina Lise for this wonderful giveaway.

The cushion cover fits the cushions on the sofa bed in my craft room

so it is already in place and so far Clara & Fredrikke are

behaving themselves!

If you haven't already visited Mrs Moen's blog I would recommend it

as you'll find all sorts of beautiful creations, tutorials and patterns

and bucket loads of inspiration too.

Just off now to have a word with a couple of funky fowls!!

More Stamp and Shrink Charms

2011-08-02T22:24:00.002+01:00

Following on from yesterday's post I've made three more charms

for the 'Stamp and Shrink Charm' swap.

Thank you to those who left me lovely comments, I really do appreciate them!

I used these stamps this time

The oriental looking one is 'The Calligraphy Robe' from

Stampington and Company.

I stamped it onto black Shrink Plastic then coloured over it in part

with gold acrylic paint, which on reflection wasn't the best idea as it's covered up most of the detail on the robe! I don't much care for the face either

as it looks like a negative print. Maybe I'll make another on white Shrink Plastic.

On the plus side though, I like the hanging beads and Chinese coins

which are quite tactile and make a pleasing sound when jangled.

For the next one I used three stamps from the 'London Underground'

from the Artistic Outpost - I just love these stamps!

I used clear Shrink Plastic this time which I much prefer as once

shrunk you can still see the image from the back.

Finally, I did another from the Character Constructions set,

but this time on black Shrink Plastic and StazOn opaque 'cotton white' ink.

I have a few tips I'd like to share -

and if I don't record them here, I'll only forget about them!!

Once shrunk the shrink plastic can be embossed with embossing powder - I did this on the reverse of one of my charms then rubber stamped an image into it, it's great for covering up an untidy back. I did read this on another blog but can't remember whose it was - sorry!
When cutting out the rubber stamped image from the Shrink Plastic leave a slight silhouette around it - ie, don't cut right into the edge of the image. This gives the image more definition and it looks better.
Finally, this one is from Lesley who has discovered that ACETATE also works well to shrink. I shall be trying that one out! Thanks again Les!

EDIT: I tried out the acetate, but it didn't shrink for me :(

I used a heat gun and quite thick acetate - maybe it depends upon

the type of acetate and the method used for shrinking?

If you have a go I'd be interested in hearing how it went for you.

Stamp and Shrink Charm Swap

2011-08-01T22:37:00.000+01:00

Shrink Plastic is something I rarely use but I do have a little supply of it in my craft room - like most crafters I suppose, I have a little bit of most things but don't often use all of it.

When I saw this 'stamp and shrink charm swap' on

the artists nest

Ning Network group recently, and some of the examples made

I was inspired to have a go myself.

Here's the stamps I used from Stampotique and Character Constructions.

So it was just a case of stamping onto the clear Shrink Plastic with black

StazOn Ink, colouring (the two Stampotique ones) with Marvy Le Plumme

pens, punching holes into and then heating and shrinking with the heat gun.

This one is my favourite as I like the dangling arms and sewing machine charm (attached with jump rings).

I just added a few beads and findings to these two.

I like the girly one with the heart and the other one is more masculine.

I added a glass gem to his chest as after shrinking there was a large

dimple there and I don't know where it came from!

Here you can see the size of the charms in relation to the stamps.

I might have to make some more now!

Thanks for looking :)

"Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens"

2011-07-30T19:52:00.000+01:00

These are a few of my favourite things - well not mine exactly, or my swap partners for the July Matchbox swap on Flickr, but that was the theme -

'My Favourite Things'.

I was selected to alter a matchbox for

Gail aka heydiggity on Flickr.

Gail listed some of her favourite things as vintage, shabby chic and Paris.

I covered the box with some of the tissue tape from Tim Holtz -

the one with the French text on, I can't remember what it's called.

I coloured over the top in parts with some blue metallic rub on paste.

The flower is made from denim and lace.

I found a great tutorial on YouTube which uses the Bigz Die from

Sizzix/Alterations 'tattered florals' - or any other flower die.

You can find it here.

I cut another piece of the denim to line the inside of the matchbox

and rubber stamped a suitable Parisian image on

(from Crafty Individuals)

I edged the drawer with some lace and added a

Hitch Fastener from Tim Holtz idea-ology range for the drawer pull.

Inside, I filled with a few bits and pieces

and some Eiffel Tower earrings.

I know Gail has received the matchbox now

and am delighted to hear that she likes it.

I received a beautiful matchbox today from

Lynne in Australia

(who was selected to alter a box for me)

and it can be seen on her

Flickr photostream here.

Thanks for looking!

Denim Disco Divas!

2011-07-24T17:15:00.000+01:00

They're back, now dressed in their jeans - or rather scraps of my old ones.

They love to boogie

High school boogie, jitterbug boogie

They love to boogie on a Saturday night!

.... but it's Sunday afternoon now ....

end of dance!

Thanks for stopping by to look :)

Alice in Art Journalling Land

2011-07-16T12:16:00.001+01:00

I love looking at all the journalling pages that I see on blogs

- not because I’m nosey and like to read the entries (although that’s true too!), but to see the beautiful backgrounds and vibrant colours.

When I saw Kate Crane’s new DVD called ‘Art Journaling’ advertised

I decided to buy it even though I’ve no intention of starting to journal, but to learn some of the wonderful background techniques.

I loved the DVDs and Kate’s relaxed style and would thoroughly recommend them - but be warned, you may then want to invest in some of the paints and dyes she uses too - namely Dylusions from Art from the Heart, unless of course you've already got them.

So, once I’d stocked up (now dreading the credit card bill!!) I decided to have a play and get messy!

I used a sheet of A4 thick cardstock and tried a few of the techniques on both sides of the card. I was so pleased with the results and especially like the mantra Kate uses over and over that there are no mistakes in art!

Anything goes!

I cut the painted card into strips and made a couple of simple cards using the Alice stamp from The Octopode Factory. I stamped the image onto book pages (of an old Alice in Wonderland book I bought in a charity shop) and also cut a few lines from it too and edged them with black watercolour pencil.

She's quite a scary looking Alice and I think she looks good in

contrast to the colourful background.

As it's rainy and overcast today I may well dip into

some more of the colourful paints and see what happens!

Thanks for looking x

Flower Art Dolls

2011-07-15T16:14:00.000+01:00

These dolls were made from a kit I won as part of a

One World One Heart

prize from the multi talented

Linda Baldock of Eclectic Visions of an Altered Journey

and you can read about them

here.

This is what the kit looked like before I opened it

The kit contained materials to make one full size and one petite doll.

Once I plucked up the courage to start and stuck on the faces,

I then got carried away with all the embellishments,

adding a few bits and pieces from my own stash too.

I ~~copied the dolls on Linda's blog~~ used the dolls on Linda's blog as inspiration, all of her art dolls are fantastic!

Once I'd finished the large doll, the petite one was easier.

Don't they look cute together!

Well, it's only taken me since March to use the kit,

which has been sitting on the end of my craft desk in a pile

of miscellaneous things I want to do first but don't actually get around to!

I'm encouraged now .... better get the duster out first though,

it's surprising how much dust can accumulate in 4 months!!!

Dolly Friends!

2011-07-11T17:28:00.000+01:00

I made a paper doll for my niece Chloe to give to her friend Charlotte

with her birthday card (she'll be 10), so I had to make one for Chloe too!

I say paper, but the bodies are actually cardstock (2 layers stuck together),

then old book pages stuck onto the back.

The faces are moulded from air dried clay as usual

and painted with acrylics.

The features were coloured in with water colour pencils

and the blush is from chalks.

The clothes are scraps of wool, lace and fibres.

The hair I love and is from a couple of braided hair bands I

bought in a charity shop a while back. I cut the pieces off,

glued them to the card head then unbraided what wasn't stuck down.

Why can't I have hair like that!!

I wonder which one Chloe will keep for herself?

They do say blondes have more fun don't they!