"Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens"

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!

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

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

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!

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!