Can't believe it has been over a week since I last posted on here. I wish I could say I have been crafting but normal life took over this week! I took advantage of a free morning to do my two pieces for Maggies challenge. It was a luxury to be able to make two as normally I only have time for one. The theme this week was Maps. Treasure Island seemed appropriate and as I'm fascinated by our social history since beginning to trace my ancestry, I remembered seeing a map showing how much of London the Great Fire had destroyed! So with the 'fire' map duly printed off, I took an extract from Samuel Pepys diary and printed it onto vellum and then stuck it under a book cover image. I don't normally do ATC's in 'landscape' but the map dictated the orientation. There was so much I wanted to include on this one but was bothered it would become overloaded so in the end just left it as it was. I made the other one by dowloading the Map image then adding an digital 'antiqued' overlay. The background was done with distress ink and then the paper skull and metal embellishments added. I was an avid reader when I was a child hence the 'Alice' extract last week and now 'Long John' this week!

Poor Jack!

This week's challenge set by Maggie was 'Playing Cards'.
So here is the Queen of Hearts surrounded by miniature Heart playing cards ordering the head off the Knave of Clubs for no reason other than he is not a 'heart'!

I have Maureen and Wendy to thank for their tips on triple embossing. My attempts up to now had not been the best but this one finally turned out OK.

Here are some pics from our County finals Day yesterday. Was very happy at the end of the game as you can see! Graham has made a film of the day which can be viewed on the County website. Think he wants to be a movie producer!

Perfect Pink!

Yesterday was my Pink Day at the Club to raise money for Breast Cancer Campaign. Graham has made a movie from the pics taken on the day, and it can be viewed here

38 ladies from the County came along and the weather was really kind to us! The game started in lovely sunshine and no one got wet! Everyone wore something pink -some more than others as you can see from Freda's photo above right! We all just loved her pink furry slippers with the pink toenails! But the best news was I raised £289 on the day which makes my current total £480 and we still have two events left. I am so pleased! We are the smallest Bowling County in England and everyone has overwhelmed me with their enthusiasm and their generosity. We had a scrummy tea afterwards, scones and jam and cream, loads of cakes with pink icing and pink marshmallows (all of which had been made and donated by my friends Josie, Eleanor, Pat and Margaret). The other picture is me (I'm the one with the pink hair!) with my good friend and bowling partner Sue and the one below is of every lady who came to the event. I have to thank my wonderful husband too who made sure the day ran well and blew up all the balloons we had tied at the end of the green! (And no doubt consumed some of the jam and cream scones!!)

Another week passed by! Was away last week and then at the weekend went to the DC forum meet at Loughborough. had a really nice day and finally met WendyK and of course, Maureen. Maureen, never one to miss an opportunity gave me some more jigsaw pieces!!! Not quite as big this time but another challenge for me!! Although I had my laptop whilst I was away and could keep in touch with everyone I couldn't of course take part in last weeks MAMMA challenge. So I was really looking forward to being able to take part in this weeks...that is, until I saw it!

The challenge was to make an ATC using Bubble wrap, a star, a flower, staples and wood! This is what i came up with! The bubble wrap is supposed to imitate paint spatter (actually it looks better in real life!) and I used cosmic shimmer powder and acrylic paints on the background. The 'easel' is a lolly stick and after adding a stamped flower on the canvas, I stuck on a paper one! I demolished a paint brush to get the top and I attached it with the staples. If nothing else, Margaret makes me think!!

Sgt Pepper and the Cherub

Have made a mountain of cards for Pink Day this week but was getting severe withdrawal symptoms! I have framed my 'Butterfly Guardian' in a black framed shadow box. I am quite proud of it as it looks really good. I mounted it onto black card treated with dark bronze cosmic shimmer and randomly stuck on skeleton leaves. Haven't decided where to hang it yet so it's sat on the fireplace hearth!!

I set to and made an ATC for Maggies weekly challenge. This week the theme was 'The 60's'. I have been paired with Renee who lives in USA and her work is fabulous so am looking forward to receiving her ATC and hope she likes mine!

I also played about with stamps and paper and ended up making the 'Cherub in Love' paper collage.

I am away from home this week but have packed my craft stuff ( I have to have something to do when it rains) and am taking my laptop as the hotel has wifi in the rooms so at least I won't be too cut off from civilisation! What did we do before Pc's, internet etc?????

Scrummy Ice Cream Cones

Managed to find some time to craft even though it has been a busy week. Every time I look at this ATC I want to buy an ice cream. I've got a stack of 'glitter' paper and the stripes came from that! It's proabably a bit too thick to be made into a gatefold but never mind! I just love the little ice cream cone...I have a few more but they're too big for ATC's!

I was bought a rather large ice cream last week on a very hot day ...shouldn't have eaten it, but really did enjoy it!!!

Little boxes, little boxes ..............

Assembled these and embellished - hoping to sell at Pink day. They're not very big, but are perfect for popping sweeties in, or small items of jewellery. I thought the papers were really pretty!

Wylde Women!

This is the 'Wylde Women' award. Someone obviously knows me very well!!!

Tammy Vitale recently created this new blogger award along with this stunning art work. Connie gave me this award and I am delighted, surprised and grateful!

The Purpose of the Award: To send love and acknowledgment to women who brighten your day, teach you new things and live their lives fully with generosity and joy.

There are so many wonderful talented ladies who I know through this cyber world it has been difficult to choose someone else to pass this on to. But I have finally decided on

Debbi from 'down under' whose blog is truly awesome

and

Maureen for her patience and encouragement!

In truth, I'd like to give this award to everyone's blog that I visit as all are inspiring and beautiful but I'd be here all day!!!

The rules for this award are that you can pass it on to as many or as few as you like, but if you do pass it on, please put a link to Tammy's blog (as above) so she can come visit!

Butterflies.

Have had my craftie head on today. Got wet this morning playing in a league game and as it was still raining when we came back, sat and got out one of the jigsaw pieces Maureen sent me. I alco inked it, then added a thin wash of white poster paint to take the shine off. I then sprayed some cosmic shimmer powder over the entire piece as I wanted an irredescent effect not a shiny one. I wasn't sure if this would work but although the photo doesn't show it very well, it has dried to a nice shimmer effect. (If you click on the photo to enlarge it, the effect shows up better!)

After embossing the edges, I tried out my new stamp! She looked a little 'flat' so embossed her wings and belt with 'enchanted gold' embossing powder. Once she was coloured in I attached her, leaving her wings free. The butterfly at the bottom is an old earring. The cream leaves were cut from a piece of lace and the huge butterfly embellishment at the top is a hair slide. A 3d butterfly, some skeleton leaves, a silver butterfly charm and a mesh/wire butterfly competed the piece.The fibres are the remnants of a ball of wool.

I have called it 'The Butterfly Guardian.'

3 faces of a Woman

Another ATC for Maggies challenge.... I really like this set of stamps!

The challenge theme for this week on Maggie's Monday Musings is the number 3. I had these three little glass feet in the bottom of a drawer so thought it would be a good way to use them! One of the feet has it's little toe partly severed...perhaps I should have called this ALMOST 3 feet in a yard???? The background was made using 'typo generator' it's a bit time consuming as you have to keep waiting for it to regenerate until you find something that's just right...but I quite liked this colour scheme and it came on the fourth request!

Flame Spirit

This ATC I have been fiddling about with for a while. I saw a poster advertising a show in which a head was engulfed by fire and wanted to re create the image. (The old Fimo Fairy went to work again and produced a few more heads!) I painted the head with acrylic paint then lacquered it. I used FP for the headress and alco inked the background. I attempted to create a 'flame' effect by ripping up a red feather and sticking it around the head. I used some large glitter pieces for the 'bed' of the fire.
I am really unsure about this piece. It will remain in my collection for a while whilst I consider it!

4 Nicks.

Through my crafting I have got to know lots of talented people. They have become part of my extended family even though the majority of them I have never met! Today is Nicks' birthday. Nicks is another person whose work cannot fail to inspire you!
I made this ATC for her as a BRAK (Birthday random act of kindness for those of you who don't know the abbreviation!!).
Sculpey head (fimo fairy is alive and well!!), painted it gold. The wooden 'jester frill' was copied from the top of a kids pencil and carved from balsa wood then painted. I added a little gold bell. The 'handle' is a piece of metal from an old brooch which I flattened (if in doubt, hit with hammer!!). I put some fibres round it then mounted the whole thing onto a pice of mulberry paper and stamped the words onto a piece of card then sponged on some colour. Final touch was to add the eyelets and ribbon.
The head is quite an ugly one which doesn't show up on the photograph very well. I hope Nicks laughed when she opened it!

Am still working like mad on the cards for the fund raising. I should really be doing some work out in the garden which is beginning to resemble a jungle... but it's raining slightly so that's my excuse to sit and craft!

Maureen's Birthday

Some time ago I bought a small gold hinged box made by 7 Gypsies. It has been sat in a drawer along with a few matchboxes. Feeling very brave and with Maureen's birthday approaching, I decided to try the alohol inks (fed up practising on paper!) on the outside of the box.
I was quite pleased with my little self cos the colours turned out really nice! I drilled a small hole in the lid of the box and attached the tiny keyring with the silver key charms.

I thought long and hard about what to put inside. I know Maureen is a keen stitcher but wanted to do something different. After lining the inside of the box with red mulberry paper, I eventually decided to put in the things that most women treasure (the box wasn't big enough to hold a Ferrari!). A love letter, a diamond ring, a string of pearls and of course a favourite shoe!

Card Break!

I bought some UTEE yesterday but have yet to take the plunge! Also haven't yet started another one of the jigsaw pieces sent to me by Maureen. Maureen also sent me some frames so I want to combine the UTEE, frames and jigsaw piece together! Need to become proficient at using the UTEE before I embark on this project! In the meantime, I have today taken a break from making the cards to sell at the Bowls Club's fund raiser for Breast Cancer Campaign (http://www.breastcancercampaign.org/) and (http://bowlslancashire.org/) and made a themed ATC for a group swap. http://maggiesmondaymusings.blogspot.com/ The theme was Parisienne. I used distress ink on french script backing paper, embossed the Eiffel Tower stamp, then added the other stamps and image. It made a pleasant break from the cards!

Award Reward!

Am I just chuffed to bits??!! You bet I am! I have been given this award by Shaz. A lovely surprise and I appreciate it.

The rules for receiving this award are

1. The winner can put the logo on her blog.

2. Link the person you received your award from.

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4. Put links of those blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you've nominated.

Nominating other blogs was really difficult as there are so many talented peops out there, all who have fab blogs and are truly awesome artists but here goes for my 7

Maureen

Dirtsa

Granny Jan

Liz

Artisbliss

Paula

Nicks.

Thanks Shaz!

No Dime, Just Time

I made the hands for this piece yesterday and the design has been floating in and out of my head all last night. I finally put it together this morning before I went to the bowling green. The quote is by Oliver Wendell Holmes, who was an American physician but regarded as one of the best 19th century American poets.
Unfortunately I couldn't find a silver dime which would have completed the ATC. I may have to wait until I can ask my American in laws to send me one so I can finish it!
I had intended to send it as a RAK to a friend, but am undecided. Shall sleep on it and then make my mind up whether it's 'OK to go' as it is, minus the money!

Inspired by New Romantics- or back to my youth!

This sculpey head is for a DC sawp hosted by AngyB. I used bronze Eberhard Faber Powder and gloss lacquer. After using the fibres for the badana I mounted the head in friendly plastic. I gold embossed the sides and printed the words onto vellum and attched with a gold brad.
My thanks to Spandau Ballet for the inspiration! I was listening to their record 'Gold' on the radio when I had the idea and it seemed fitting to use some of the lyrics from their song which were freely available to download!
I think the line - 'always believe in your Soul' is a thought provoking one - believing in yourself is probably one of the most important things a person can do.

Meshy.

Sian is hosting a 'mesh' swap. Here are my two efforts.
The 'Flowers and Beads' one I made by hand stitching the beads and adding some silver embossing powder to the edges of the crinkled paper. After scattering some seed beads around the silver spiral clip I finshed off with some of these metallic looking flowers. I am undecided about this one, but the deadline is a week away so will probably have to send it in as it is.

The other ATC I have called 'Trapped'. I don't know if this is a depiction of my own personal feelings at the moment or not, but I have tried to capture the butterfly vainly attempting to reach the flower and being unable to do so as it is ensnared in the mesh.
I made this using acrylic paint around the bottom left of the 'mesh', stamped the butterfly image with 'blue glass' colour and added a sparkly blue flower. The word 'trapped' was made using shrink plastic.
I hope the butterfly manages to escape.