Tussie

Tussie Mussie -  Definition - a cone shaped holder for a flower bouquet - or a cone shaped holder that you can fill with choccies or nice smelly bath bits and give to someone you like!
Well that's what I did anyway - (the choccies not the flowers and the other stuff.....)
I had made one of these a long time ago and  have been promising myself each year since that I would make another! 
NOTE TO SELF - these things are THE WORST  EVER to photograph!!


Used a sheet of dark blue and white pretty K and Co paper (very old - had eons) to make the actual cone - it has vintage roses printed on it and I loved it so much I wouldn't use it.. but all things have to be used up eventually...

So cone shape duly cut out, I lined the inside with some strong white card, then dragged out the lace and bits box.
The pale blue and cream lace was stitched to the top of the cone, along with a piece of dark cream heavy vintage lace.
I used 2 more bits of the same blue/cream lace and stitched it down the centre then assembled the cone.

The very slim 'tassels' were made simply by separating an oddment of a bit of silky twine stuff, a short length of which was found in the box and then tied round a teeny pearl string handle (which you can't see very well in the photo) and secured to the edge of the cream lace.
The gold and pearl embellishment from my stash was  threaded through a bit of pale blue ribbon and tied through the lace at the top and finally the scrap of organza rose trim glued in place.

All the lace and trim used where left over pieces - so am hoping this qualifies as 'snippets' and despite the grotty weather I am going into the Playground.

Challenges -
613 Avenue Create - Anything Goes/Feminine
Eclectic Ellapu - Tussy Mussy
CFTH - Anything Goes
Robyn's Fetish - Anything But A Card
All Crafts - Anything But A Card
Simply Papercraft - Anything Goes
Enjoy the rest of your day whatever you're doing! x

No Marmalade for the Toast!

Arrived home at 4am - lovely holiday - fell into bed, got up to .......... RAIN! There's a surprise. Thought about just leaving everything in the case and going straight back! LOL
Missed my making messy though if not anything else and have had a chill out day finishing off a few bits and pieces as I have a busy weekend coming up.
So here is a change from cards -

 NOTHING is safe in our house according to the long suffering other half. If it's not cutlery it's marmalade jars!
In my defence I tell him that I use up odd scraps for these projects so am not buying stash.. he believes every word - love him to bits!
So the rinsed out marmalade jar which was waiting to be taken out for recycling walked up 3 flights of stairs on its own to the craftie den and sat looking at me on the desk.

I lifted out the lacy scraps drawer and found a bit of burlap big enough just to wrap round the entire jar. Once glued and dried I added a piece of wide pink lace to the bottom and a smaller width piece to the top then tied some shoestring ribbon round it (in the ridge of the screw top).
The lid was first painted with primer and once dry  overpainted in a pale pink acrylic paint. Some more lace suitably glued on the top and then stitched together in the middle to create a ruffled effect. The vintage drawer knob was in my stash and I fixed it to the top.
Finished the rather untidy edge with some pink braid.
The label was cut from a scrap of paper and I just stamped a bit of text over it with Memento London Fog  (which doesn't show up very well in the pic!). Two pearls to the edge.
Finished it with a pink lace flower (cut from a tatty scrap) and three pearl pins.
Quite happy now! Pretty jar now sat with some of my other bits on the shelf - much better than it being crushed at the recycling centre! LOL (and because it's from scraps and odd bits it's off to the Playground for me!)
Challenges -
Scribble and Scrap - Anything Goes
Creative Card Crew - Shabby/Vintage
My Craft Creations - Anything Goes
Lexis- Ribbons/Lace
All Crafts Challenge - Anything but a Card
Clear it Out - Vintage/pearls
Craft Room Challenge - Recycle
Craft Your Passion - Pearls/Lace
Fashionable Stamping - 3D Object
Pile It On - Shabby Chic

Thanks for looking in. Now off for a proper trawl through blogland to catch up with you all! x

Vintage Stamping DT - Something for Yourself

This month over at 'Vintage Stamping'   Claire chose the theme and set a task of  'Just for You' meaning  make something for yourself to keep or something that you would like to receive from somebody else! As always there's a $20 spend up for grabs from  Flonz Crafts. (Remember we need to see some stamping on your project but even though we have 'Vintage' in the title your make doesn't have to be!)

I decided to have a change from cards and made this for me to keep -

Had lots of fun and as always made lots of mess!

I started by covering the Art Parts spool and bases with some papers from my stash.

I sanded the edges to make them tidy then ran some Tea Dye DI round them.

A quick covering of Mod Podge to seal. On the bottom I put a clock button, some old lace and two filigree metal flowers.

The fob watch is also Art Parts.

The base part was also covered with paper from the same pad and then I over stamped over it with a Blossom Branch stamp from our sponsor and embossed in Weathered Wood EP.

I used gold embossing powder on the top piece randomly dabbing  some Weathered Wood.

Assembled the two pieces together with 3d pads.

Out with the Shrink Plastic!! Clear piece and a cream piece. Stamped a pocket watch on the cream piece and stamped a sentiment - 'Time Began in a Garden' as always held my breath when I blasted it with the heat gun!

A bit of broken chain from an old necklace and a gold metal butterfly.

The 'flower fairies' were cut from a scrap of paper and stuck to a scrabble tile - edged the tile with silver (probably should have used gold but just picked up the silver pen!). Finished it with a die cut flower and some lace 'leaves'.

Hope you can find time to join the challenge this time - we love to see your creations!

Other Challenges -
All Crafts - Anything but a Card
Cheerful Stamp Pad - Anything Goes
Rhedds Creative Spirit - Altered
Altered Eclectics - Alter Something
Quirky Crafts - Secret Garden
Crafts & Me - Anything Goes
Fantasy Stampers - Spring Colours
That's Crafty - Anything Goes

 We're having some glorious Spring weather at the mo - hope you're all enjoying it and long may it continue!x

Watch the Birdie

My turn this month to set the challenge at Crafty Cardmakers and I chose the theme of 'Come Fly With Me '.
I'm wanting lots of you to join in so get making anything that has a focal point of birds, which can also include birdcages and the like.
Our sponsors are the fab Hobby Art Stamps and Di's Digistamps.

I bought  a birdhouse shape at the beginning of last year, then took it apart and kept it to use as a template - I had a lot of fun making this little birdie house as I used lots of different stuff for this and made a lot of mess (as usual!).

Used thick brown kraft card to cut out all of the pieces. Gesso'd all the shapes and punched out the circle for the entrance before assembling into the 'house' then used a mix of papers and DI to cover the 'walls'.

A teeny piece of bamboo skewer used for the perch.

The roof was simply cut from the same thick brown kraft card and then strips of frilly lace stuck on it.
The branches and the birdie are Chipboard shapes from Maya Road. Gesso'd these then painted them with DI.

The 'Home' jigsaw piece is from a large box which I bought when a craft shop was closing down.
Finished it all off with a few leaves and punched out flowers and a teeny bit of flower flocky stuff  (this made most of the mess as I decided to open the window a little and forgot I had not put the top on the jar.........)
Birdie House now hanging in the craftie space!

Other Challenges -
Eclectic Ellapu -  Anything But a Card
Quirky Crafts - Pile it High, Layer It up and 3D
Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Anything MM Goes
Crafty Creations - For the Birds
All Crafts - Anything goes


Hope you like birdie's house and thanks for calling in. I've spent the last week feeling very sorry for myself - the pair of us are still full of coughs and sneezes - am hoping that I can catch up with you all over the next day or so - just my headache keeps returning with a vengeance so sitting in front of the pc is probably not the most sensible option! Have a great day. x

A Visit to Grandma's House - Shabby Chic - Crafty Cardmakers DT

It's time for another challenge at Crafty Cardmakers and this one is one of my ABSOLUTE FAVES!! So I hope you will find time to join us this fortnight - prizes up for grabs!!
A big thank you to fellow Teamie BettyC who set this challenge - SHABBY CHIC. Love it!
 I have had soooo much fun creating this project and I used up lots of little bitty things - fiddly, time consuming, messy desk and sticky fingers - just what us crafters love!

 Be warned now before you go any further this is a VERY picture heavy post - I have put 'close up' views at the bottom - please enlarge if you want a better look!

I bought this house shaped box some time ago and had already painted and distressed it but when we moved house it got packed away and I finally got round to making it up.
It gave me a chance to just - well have a 'play'!

My gran was an accomplished dressmaker. She made everyone's wedding dresses, bridesmaids outfits, winter coats etc and all my summer dresses. I was the proud owner of a beautiful red velvet dress with a white crochet collar one Christmas when I was about 8 followed by a luscious brown corduroy coat with a leather collar for my birthday.

So this project is in it's own way a tribute to her amazing needle skills - and of course her prowess with a Singer sewing machine!

Quick run down through the 'storeys' -
Attic - small cardboard box liberally stamped, a little Paris Passport rescued from another project, a hat, parasol, old clock and old sign, a bit of lace thrown in!

First floor - Paris backed Perfume Advert, small parcel of fabric, vintage lace and a teeny pink thimble, some 'rolls' of fabric (done by using cocktail sticks and scraps!), a couple of tiny buttons, sewing machine (stamped on metal) and a 'remember' sticker. Dressmakers dummy covered in paper and some floaty fabric, a mirror made by using modelling paste, acrylic paints and metallic rubs for the frame with the insert from a piece of tin foil, a reel of vintage ribbon secured with a sparkly pin and a small cotton reel.

Ground floor -from the left -  image printed onto fabric (reminded me of the way my hair was done in 'ringlets' when I was small!) edged with vintage lace, a fabric rose and a pearl earring,
Centre - a sewing 'basket' containing some vintage style pins, a safety pin, tape measure and scissors, a button and specs and a candelabra to see by!  

Right - a ladies vintage boot, more buttons and a tiny hanger with a feather bit all sat on some vintage lace.

Challenges -
Natalie & Amy - Shabby Chic
Altered Eclectics - Alter Something
Dream Valley - Buttons
The Crafting Cafe - Anything Goes
All Crafts Challenge - Anything but a Card
Challenges 4 Everybody - Anything Goes
Created with Love - Sewing
ALBC - A little bit Shabby

I hope you have enjoyed my little trip down memory lane - the box is now sat on my work room wall where it evokes memories of my childhood!
Thanks for visiting today - have a great time whatever you're doing. x

Holiday Destinations

Time for another challenge over at Crafty Cardmakers - and this week Jack would like to see projects that depict or are inspired by a holiday destination. This doesn't have to be somewhere you have been, it can be somewhere you would love to go. Please explain where you have chosen and why in your blog post and please please to keep things fair for everyone make sure you read those challenge rules as you don't want to lose your chance to win a prize from one of our two fab sponsors - CRAFTS AND ME and THE PAPER SHELTER.

 Onto my project - a long time ago I went to Italy. (Be warned this post is pic heavy!!)

I visited Rome, Pisa and Venice. 

I adored Italy - the culture, the art, the food(LOL), the wine (LOL) and well - just about everything! 

I have promised myself that I will return again and it's on my ever increasing list of 'things to do before I become too old and decrepit to enjoy them'!!  

So it was an obvious choice for me to choose this as my destination.

Instead of a card, this week I have altered a slide mailer. 
The mailer was inked with Dusty Concord DI before adding the papers (which are from Crafty individuals).

The pic with the Colosseum in the background - from a time when 'visiting Europe' was only something done by rich and privileged families seemed perfect to use. 

On the front I added a small fabric leafy flourish (cut off something or other!) and a metal camera charm. I popped a die cut in the top corner after colouring randomly with the same DI.
 
Inside another image, a bit of stamping, some ribbon,  and lace and a fabric flower died with DI. 

Under the slides are two more Italy images - of course no visit to Italy is complete without a trip on a venetian gondola or a visit to marvel at St Peter's Basilica.  
I used some tiny beads at the top of each one.

Same papers were used on the back.

I hope my project has inspired you to come and join us this time - we love seeing all your creations!

Challenges -
Our Creative Corner - Captured Memories
Crafts and Me - Anything Goes
Dutch Dare - Photo Inspiration (please visit their blog!)
Crafting by Designs - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes
Cards und More - Travel/Adventure  
The Cheerful Stamp Pad - From the Past
Lexi's - Summer Holiday 
seemacrafts - Holday/vacation

Thanks for visiting! x
 
   

Spreading Dreams

What a Day! Snow this morning, howling winds now it's pouring down! So cold too... not where I am though!! LOL
Heaters on and a woolly jumper sat here in the crafty space making messy listening to the awful weather - what more could a girl want??
Started this little project a few days ago and have fiddled and fiddled and eventually put something together which I now think is acceptable!
The canvas measures 8" square and I wanted some 'depth' so turned it over and used the inside aperture. (I lined it with two M and S Sofa Fabric samples!)
Before starting I needed to 'square off' the inside to make a box so I used some canvas covered mount-board and painted it in a dark creamy colour before gluing it in place.

Made quite a bit of mess doing the frame really - I put some modelling paste all over the edges and once dry started adding layers of paint in varying shades of cream to make a textured base.
Out with the Bronze Cosmic Shimmer which was just randomly applied, then a few spots of gold embossing powder. I then blasted the whole frame with the heat gun.
Not content with this I then rubbed some metallic cream over it in a verdigris colour and just for good measure painted some watered down pearlescent tint across the whole thing and blasted again with the gun!
Some vintage cotton lace and seam binding ribbon with a bronze heart charm on the bottom and two metal corners. 

The quote is one of my all time favourites - I love it - 'I have spread my dreams beneath your feet - tread softly because you tread on my dreams' is from He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven by W.B.Yeats and I printed it onto fabric then after suitable distressing and ragging glued it in place.
The vintage image, music sheet and script were all printed onto fabric and stitched, before placing into the centre onto a wooden board to lift it up.
I used some muslin, a few paper flowers, a scrap of lace, a tiny chipboard piece with a pearl glued on and then finished it with a tiny pearl where the lady's necklace is and a string of pearl beads.

Challenges -
WOW - Romance and Love
Happy Campers - Shabby Chic
Anything but a card - Share the Love
Hotshot Crafts - Anything but a Card
Anything Goes - Vintage
Top Tip Tuesday - Let me call you Sweetheart
My All Crafts Challenge - Show what you create
Creative Creations - Love themed
Simon Says - Something Messy 
Pretty Little Ribbon Shop - Anything Goes


Off to grab a coffee then a trawl through blogland! Have a great day! x

Autumn Leaves

Am a bit like a bus today - don't see one for a while then two come together!Second post for today is a project done for my Flickr group 'Art n Soul'. The challenge for October (unsuprisingly) has a theme of Autumn or Fall. (How original I am when setting these challenges I hear you say!)

The difficulty was that the theme had to be interpreted onto a Beer Mat.

And no this was NOT an excuse to visit the pub - as fortunately (or UNfortunately depending on your point of view)- one of my crafting friends had sent me a stack of beer mats a while back. I shall refrain from naming her as I don't want you to think she spends all her time in licensed premises......

So here's the finished project! I covered the coaster with glossy paper. Then coloured with a combination of Sunset Orange, Caramel, Ginger and Butterscotch Alcohol Inks. I then stamped some leaf images (Elusive Images) randomly onto the background.

I used a wee bit of copper embossing powder round the edges before adding the text. The text I found some time ago whilst blog hopping and it amuses me as I think it's absolutely so true! The large leaf was another Elusive Images stamp done with Stazon onto a Ten Seconds Studio metal sheet then cut out. I embossed it to 'puff' it up a bit and filled the back with Polyfilla to make sure it didn't squash before fixing it to the coaster.

Some leaf shaped buttons and some fibres to finish.

Paperplay Challenges, Creative Inspirations and Theme Thursday all have set challenges of Autumn this week.

Winter Birds

I just HAD to make something out of the empty beer cans that OH has been obligingly supplying me with - it was a real labour of love for him as you can imagine - (lol!).

Inspired by Jan (and encouraged once again by Maureen re using alcohol inks) I completed this wall hanging this morning.

The beer can was embossed with the cuttlebug die and then coloured with alco inks (-Burnt Orange colour mostly).

The bird image I printed onto cotton fabric paper. I added some feathers and a couple of 'eggs'. The leaf arrangement on the right is made up of a large leaf that Maureen cut out and embossed for me (from yet another beer can OH donated - LOL) as I don't have a leaf die - (something else for the shopping list!) and two smaller fabric leaves and a couple of sparkly flowers from my stash. The beading at the bottom was a gift from Maureen and I thought it co ordinated well with the piece and finally I added an antique look chain to hang it with.

My other half appears to be delighted that I have taken to wanting metal to work with....... can't understand why!!!

I have submitted this piece to Gingersnap Creations whose challenge this week is to use frames.

Altered Bottle Tops

We have a new Flickr group called 'Art 'n Soul' . The group challenges run every month and the first challenge is to alter 3 bottle tops....

Here is my entry. The pics were from a book by Hot Off The Press called 'Easy Peasy Jewellery' and they have the added bonus of having matching acetate overlays, intended for making pendants, rings etc.

I thought they were perfect for the inside of the bottle tops!

I have edged the inside of each top with some seed beads and then added a scrap of vintage lace and a silver heart charm at the bottom.

There is a challenge at Dezinaworld to use lace in a project... OK there isn't a lot of lace on this piece but there is a teeny weeny piece!

Shells, Italy and a new friend!

I have a new friend in the shape of a frog who hopped into the workroom yesterday and decided to stay a while! He was quite happy to have his photo taken and has appeared again this morning just outside the workroom door - so I think maybe he intends to visit as often as he can!

Whilst Ferdy ( well - it's not quite as boring as naming him Freddy....) sat and stared at me I made an ATC and altered another slide mailer.

The ATC background is from a paper napkin ( sent by Maureen). I used stamps and some real shells to finish it.

The slide mailer is fast becoming a favourite thing to alter! I am becoming addicted also to the Crafty Individuals background papers which are just so beautiful you don't want to use them!

This paper was from the Travels to Italy book and I added an italian stamp, some italian postmarks and a small suitcase charm to the front. The back I have left plain as the harlequin and script paper was too pretty to cover! Inside I again made a little paper pocket to hold some stamps and painted the other side in a rose pink before adding the Italian themed images behind the microscope slides and the tiny pink seed beads. As the Do it in an Hour challenge incorporates maps I have submitted the slide mailer as the inside papers has a map of Italy!

Free day!

I have today taken advantage of a day free from any paperwork or bowling! Please note I have also taken yet ANOTHER day off from housework too..................... I had one of those ' I refuse to spend my free day cleaning' moments this morning... the moment has lasted all day.

So on to making messy - and boy did I make a mess. I have had three attempts at doing a project as shown in this month's Craft Stamper magazine. It looked relatively straightforward thing but I have struggled so much you wouldn't belive - no matter how hard I tried, I could not transfer all the ideas and colours whizzing round in my head onto the slide mailers! After 2 failed attempts (both of which ended up in the bin!), I finally managed to complete a double slide mailer and a single one. The single one I will post at a later date and I really shouldn't be posting this as I'm probably going to give it as a gift in the future but I was so pleased to have finally finished it (and be satisfied with it!) that I took the pictures and here it is!

I am a little disappointed about how the pictures of the inside have turned out as the colour reproduction is not as vibrant as in real life - surrounding the two stamped images on the slides is a green background which has decided to show up as grey in the pic!

Tuesday Taggers have a theme of swirls and curls this week and as the fibre on the front is curly and there are stamped flourishes on the back I have submitted this for this week's challenge!

Coaster Book

I have been looking after two of our Flickr groups whilst our group leader Margaret is taking a break for personal reasons. I am currently setting challenges on the monthly groups of Art Dolls and also the Altered Swap.

I set the challenge of an 'Altered Coaster Book', which saw several members running for the nearest pub/bar/restaurant - (any excuse..........)

One of the reasons behind setting this as a theme was because I had never done one before! I said that there should be one stamp used somewhere on the book and also some texture but you could make it on any theme you want.

Here is my first attempt. I decided that I perhaps should only use 2 coasters for the first try - nothing too ambitious!!!

I covered the front and back of the coasters with stiff brown corrugated paper. The back has an embossed leaf design mounted onto mulberry paper with a couple of stickers and a button.

Inside I used some more mulberry paper to cover the coaster and added some stamped images of trees, a skeleton leaf and some small letter tags. A couple of different fibres and a leaf shaped button finished the inside.

On the front cover I used the quote (from a tag book), another stamped image of a tree, another skeleton leaf and a couple of acorn and leaf stickers. I added the metal corners and the little metal watering can charm. Finally, I attached some fibres to the front and secured the booklet with two strips of brown organza ribbon.

I have thoroughly enjoyed doing this and am now determined to do another with some pages inside.

Tag

Today it is Maureen's birthday - she is 21 again. LOL

It was Maureen who persuaded me to move away a little from 'safe' card making and to explore altered stuff.... she keeps finding me 'large things to alter'. Amongst other things she's sent me massive match boxes, huge jigsaw pieces and enormous playing cards!

Some time ago she sent me a very large luggage tag so I decided she would get it back - can post it now as she's opened it! I sponged the background then added various mica powders in blue, green, gold and copper. I tried to give the background a smooth textured look so dotted 'blobs' of the mica powders and heated with the heat gun.

I thought the little mermaid's expression looked like she was dreaming of doing other things - maybe being able to stand selling sea shells instead of just swimming amongst them? Out came the 'shell' box - some of these shells were brought back from Florida - and I figured if they'd survived travelling that sort of distance they could survive Royal Mail!

I edged the image with gold ink and stuck it on the tag then stamped the words.

I stuck some blue, green and gold fibres along the bottom of the image and put a small pearl bead next to the large shell.

Finally I embossed the entire edge of tag in gold, adding some more tiny blue and green beads, a moon snail button and little gold starfish and of course some more shells. Please enlarge the pic for a better view!

Happy Birthday Maureen!!!

(Oh - and I have entered this into Wednesday Stampers theme of 'Colourful' and I hope it also is acceptable for the challenge of 'friends' at Tuesday Taggers)

Key to the Heart?

I am a member of a monthly altered art group and the challenge this month was to alter a key.

This is my first attempt.

The back of the key can be seen on my Flickr photstream here

I painted the key with black acrylic paint, then dabbed some of it off using a paper towel - some parts of the pic make the key and charm look red but this is due to me wearing a red shirt when I took the photo!

I used two silver filigree circles front and back. On the front I used a silver rimmed black button and glued on a pink heart gem. The lace was stuck on for no other reason other than it was lying on my desk and destined for the bin - waste not want not!!!

I am not sure if the addition of the two plastic leaves were a good idea as they are not particularly strong, but I liked the irridescent effect so decided to take the risk. I stamped the 'woman of spirit' image onto shrink plastic and panicked as usual when it began to curl up before it flattened out again - I added it and the silver cherub charm using silver chain.

The back of the key has the same silver filigree and lace scrap and I have added some pink gems. I am feeling quite relieved that today I have finally managed to make something - but also feeling guilty that I should have been catching up with the dreaded chores!

Not to worry - the dust will still be there next week won't it????

Mother Nature

I suppose many of us could be forgiven for thinking Spring had arrived here judging by the lovely weather we had last week and at the beginning of this - once again we were fooled! Despite the blooming daffodils and other spring flowers Mother Nature dealt us a blow with some really cold winds, very heavy showers and grey skies!

I have completed a piece today and have submitted it for two challenges.

The theme at Awfully Big Art Adventure was set by Patty and it was to 'alter cutlery'.

Heather had set a theme of 'Mother Nature' on the Saturday Surprise blog.

Having viewed some amazing pieces of altered cutlery on other blogs I managed to dodge the husband before he put locks on the kitchen drawers and found a couple of old forks. Unfortunately, the forks weren't old enough because they were almost impossible to bend!! (They must have been nickel plated.)

Undeterred I managed to bend the tines on one even if it wasn't to the shape I wanted!

I alcohol inked the fork using 'Lettuce, Meadow and Ginger' inks. I made Mother Nature in the centre of the fork with a Sculpey head (smudged suitably using a felt pen before colouring the mouth and eyes), and made her hair from a collection of fabric leaves wound onto long wires. The wires I then wound to create arms and legs. I added a sparkly dragonfly a shell shaped flower with a silver ladybird charm and the words Create and Grow which to me represent Nature. Finally I put the little foam bird onto the top of the fork with a few tiny twigs and a piece of green wool to try and represent a nest.

This was one of those things where I was quite surprised that it turned out not bad for a first attempt.

Ruler Book

Those of you who follow my blog will know that I am a member of a group called the 'Six Inch Square Club' - all ardent crafters are part of this group even though they mightn't be aware of it - its for all us messy artists who no matter how hard we try to be tidy always end up with only 'six inches' of usable space on their work tables!

The very talented Ange is the group Administrator and she sets a project every couple of months for us to try. I was lucky enough this month to win the basics to make the project of a Ruler Book. Ange sent me the ruler, fixings and the board.

Here is the result. I decided on a 'Garden' theme and used the image of the garden landscape design as the basis for the front cover. The large lace flower (dyed with distress ink), the daisy lace, green ribbon and small flower were all part of a 'lucky dip' bag I bought at the NEC. I painted the chipboard piece with Distress Crackle Paint then ran another distress ink pad over it. The background paper is from Basic Grey and the tag and butterfly were from my own stash. The rusty key used to open our old garden shed!

Inside the book I made a couple of pages to depict the garden seasons. All the background papers were from my stash and the larger tags are K and Co. I added smaller tags with leaves etc and also glued a seasonal 'tip' onto the large tag before putting the tags into the lace and paper pockets on each page. A few lace and floral embellishments finished the book.

I really enjoyed this project. I have uploaded the inside of the book as smaller images so as always if you want to see the detail you need to view each pic by clicking on it individually!

And of course if you want to join the 'Six Inch Square Club' Ange would love to see you! Just follow this link or click on the pic on the right hand side of my blog.

Playing with stash!

Cards finished so tipped the contents of the carrier bags out onto the work desk and began to have another look at all the stuff I bought with Maureen at the NEC.

We had spent a bit of a time admiring a 5' tall 'Decopatch' giraffe and as mad crafters do had bought a 'starter' kit! (Don't panic - We didn't buy anything as big as the giraffe!)

The decopatch papers are absolutely beautiful. Gorgeous colours and designs and as part of the deal we got 4 papers of our choice... I spent ages choosing but eventually much to Maureen's relief (as she was itching to go into the sewing section) I made my mind up!

Here are the results. (You really need to click on each pic to get the full view of the different designs on the papers).

I enjoyed doing this, tearing the paper up though was a bit of a wrench as the designs were so pretty- but I steeled myself to destroy it consoling myself that it would be reborn!

Front Cover

You know I've been promising to make a book from my gothic arches for a while? Well don't get excited...it isn't made yet..... BUT I have decided on how I want it to look!

Instead of using the arches and adding a 'spine' to them by joining them together, I chose to mount them onto co-ordinating paper which I could also decorate. I've done 6 so far .

This picture though is of the book's front cover.

I really enjoyed doing this. I used mountboard measuring approx 8" x 8".

The background paper and lady image is from Flickr collage group and I painted her lips and nails before adding some wire mesh to her veil. I think she is stunningly beautiful and has such a peaceful aura about her. I distressed the paper behind her then highlighted the edge of the mountboard with red ink before distressing the arch background. A couple of red gems added to the top of the arch with our winged gothic ladies in front, a crow (HAS to be included on anything gothic doesn't it???!!), a hand holding a red rose, a fabric flower, red ticket and metal tags also added and I glued some black lace along the bottom edge.

I am now looking for something suitable to spray/paint the whole piece with to give it a protective coat.

This is definitely work in progress. Will post again when I have completed the book!

Box

I was sat there on Thursday looking round the crafty space for a cardboard box when the postman arrived. The kind people at the electric company had sent me 2 free low energy light bulbs - I wasn't bothered about the bulbs but was more interested in the packaging!

The bulbs were contained within a cardboard box measuring 6" x 4".

Tossing the bulbs aside I thought this little bit of cardboard was just the right size for me to fiddle with so I could take part in this week's Awfully Big Art Adventure which had a theme of 'alter a blank'. I had been really excited at being put onto the front page of ABAA with my milagros heart and then disappointed last week when I hadn't found time to take part in the challenge again - so I was determined that one way or another I would find a box or something to alter this week!

After moaning to my lovely postie that the box wasn't in mint condition (those nasty people at the electric company had glued labels and stuff on it and one of the sides hadn't been folded under properly) I decided to make a 'Memory Box' with it.

I covered with some mulberry paper that had a 'raindrop' design on it and added some antique lace round the entire base of the box. On the top I used the same lace and made a 'bouquet' of fabric roses, blue and cream organza ribbon , with a gold and pearl wire flower bunch. I finished the bouquet by cutting out a cardboard bird. A chipboard 'Memory' sticker finished the top of the box and a fabric rose onto the front conceals the velcro 'hook and loop' fastener underneath.