Stone

Lots to Do this week has set a challenge of Stone. This is a paper collage with a 'stone' head. The head was one of a large matchbox full of similar heads sent to me by Maureen.

I used a stone 'gothic arch' background, coloured the windows with watercolour paint and a stone headless winged angel whose wings were accented with fine glitter. The words are a quote attributed to Pablo Picasso.

I have to go out today but am hoping I can check all the other challenge sites and get on with doing some tonight! I was out all day yesterday so am getting withdrawal symptoms again!

Embossing

Over on Lots to Do Challenge the theme this week is embossing. Those of you who knew me in my former life on the DC site will have seen this card that I made for Mum's birthday before.

This was a large project for me as I'm still very much a learner with regard to parchment, but I felt it was my best embossing effort to date on parchment paper so decided to submit it! (Even though i took the picture of it before the glue had dried!)

Vintage Tags

Maggies challenge this week was the theme of Vintage Tags. Time has been at a bit of a premium so although I love vintage, I had to make these in a hurry. Suppose it's a bit early for a remembrance one, but then really rememberance should be done all year round not just on one day. The ATC sized tag is a vintage paper collage , with a skeleton leaf, a photo of a soldier and a made vellum envelope. The poem 'Flanders Fields' always brings tears to my eyes, and after making the vellum envelope I popped in a copy of it. The paper poppy is secured with a black brad.

The other tag is again a paper collage, added a few bits of lace,ribbon and a little crocheted flower secured with a pearl brad. Isn't her hat very grand?!!!

J'adore Haute Couture...........

but can't afford it!!!!

This weeks challenge over on Gothic Arches was 'Haute Couture'.

I really struggled with this theme for some unknown reason...considering I LOVE clothes, especially handbags and shoes as everyone who knows me will testify!

I eventually sponged a background then used black indian ink before adding the image, lace, sequins, feathers and words to make a mixed media collage.

Windows and Squish a Boob!!!!

The Creative Wednesday challenge this week was 'Windows'.

I have done a 4 x 4 piece. The background was done using Mica pigments in Golden Pear and Violet Frost with a blend of a pale pink ink sponged background. The lady image and the words were printed on acetate to allow the shimmer powders to show through, the flower swirls stamped and the sleeping mask and beads are suspended from the top of the window.

As I have used 3d pads to mount the frame the sleeping mask turns round! I added the lace, fibres and gems in an attempt to give the piece even more depth.

For those of you that have followed my blog this year you will know that the Breast Cancer Campaign is close to my heart.

This little 'Squish a Boob, Save a Life' penguin is a real cutie and as October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, please pick him up, pass him on and pop him onto your own blogs!

D.D.G!

So there I was this morning looking out on a rather grey day when the postman arrived. I opened this jiffy envie and suddenly the sun came out! Inside was this exquisite little work of art from Jan.

Isn't this just gobsmackingly beautiful? The little bird is on a scrabble tile..... and the colours are awesome! Once again the pic does not do this justice!! So thank you again Jan, there was no need to send it to me but am really glad that you did!!

Oh and for those of you who are wondering what D.D.G stands for in the title it means -

DROP DEAD GORGEOUS!!!!!!

New stamps!

Haven't done a lot of one to one swapping recently, but made this for a trade.Well I had to play with my new stamps didn't I??? I think this is a really pretty face! I am still trying different methods of using stamp ink for backgrounds and this one was just three different ink pads swirled on with a piece of felt. I love this irridescent vellum which I used to cover the bottom stamped image - trouble is I haven't got very much of it left in this pearl type colour, so will now have to try things with the other colours! Some of the other stamps I bought are too big for ATC's so will have to try 4 x 4's or maybe another wall hanging next!

Turquoise Dreams

This is my submission to the theme of 'Turquoise' on Gothic Arches this week.

A Leap and Time!

These two ATC's are for a swap on the DC Forum. The theme was altered playing cards. It has been quite a while since I took part in a swap on this forum but the subject appealed to me! Both are basic paper collages, the playing card corners have been coloured by using alco ink on the 'Jack' one and Distress Inks on the Queen. The Queen image made me smile cos it doesn't matter how early I get up, I'm always rushing about at the last minute before I go out!

St Joan and Embossing Powder

Have called this ATC 'Look to the Light'. This stamp is one of my new stash. Once I'd stamped the image the thought of Joan of Arc came into my head... maybe it's because the face is looking upward and I seem to remember an old drawing of the Maid of Orleans at the stake looking toward the heavens. Anyway, I decided to try and follow the theme using the stamp as the base. I added some meshy fabric frayed at the edges to try and give a sense of imprisonment and collaged the shield and sword. I recently bought some 'Enchanted Gold' embossing powder and had been disappointed with it as I felt it didn't give enough depth, I thought though that it might be delicate enough for rays of light. I first used white embossing powder and ran the brush through it before heating to give the 'rays' effect then once heated added the gold one over. I allowed the gold one to scatter a bit onto the face. Finally I added the cross charm.

I am pleased with this project but don't think this pic does it justice. I feel that I am learning new things all the time - just wish my photography skills were improving too!

Halloween

There was an 'open' theme on Gothic Arches this week so I took the opportunity to post a 'fun' arch! The background of this arch is fabric - it looks like a sparkly spiders web- which I spotted in the window of a small haberdashery shop in the nearest town to me - I have another Arch almost completed (not a halloween theme!) and really should get round to finishing it! I've got loads of ideas for gothic arches as i really like the shape and size, trouble is I never have enough time to make any of my ideas come to fruition!

I've also had a bit of a spend on some stamps this week, so have been too busy stamping the images in different colours seeing what they look like instead of actually doing any proper crafting!

Have been out in the garden today. Needed to take advantage of the beautiful weather! So have done a bit of tidying, pruning etc at the lawn and borders nearest the house. The large middle lawn is suffering from the wet weather, moss appearing and the shrubs on the left are desperate for a hair cut! So maybe I will manage to do another border tomorrow as the forecast is good. I made this ATC last night - inked and stamped background, paper collage and an embossed border - am going to have a crafty messy evening tonight as I have a new stamp!

Nature and Nakedness!

Maggies Challenge this week was 'phone books'. I remembered seeing a dress shop called Fine Feathers in the local yellow pages so this image seemed to fit! I have bought a lot of stamps on line recently, some have arrived and some not. The other ATC is one of a pile that arrived yesterday! I love this image, her face is so serene. I inked the background and after stamping the image sponged over it lightly with white ink. The skeleton leaves and lace I added afterwards and does anyone else have trouble with 'rub ons'? I never seem to manage to get ALL the transfer off onto the project!

Circle of Life

Have wanted to do this circular book for a while. This being my first attempt, it isn't perfect - it's not entirely symmetrical when it's closed. But I know where I went wrong, so maybe if I do another, I will manage to get everything lined up perfectly. It looks fine when it's opened out fully! You do each segment separately, then stick it all together so when it opens out it makes a perfect circle.I chose the 'Circle of Life' theme as it combined my crafting with one of my other passions - Ancestry! I did each segment as a generation, starting with the children, then the young gentlemen looking forward to their travels and young lady who is in love for the first time and finishing with Grandma and Grandpa who have a treasure chest of memories of their lives together. I'm enough of a romantic to think that perfect families really DO exist (if only in my imagination!)

I have started a couple of projects this week, in anticipation of my bowling season finishing on Sunday!

Guilty copycat and Second hand Rose!

Am feeling really guilty! It's been a lovely afternoon here, sun shining and I have been very naughty! Instead of doing some work in the garden and taking advantage of the weather, I have sat here and turned the tidy(ish) craft space into a tip! I have been envious for a long time of Jans beautiful wall hangings and although I am not a 'fabric' person and am rubbish with a needle (unless it's x stitch!), I was desperate to try and do something similar. ( Note for Jan....Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery ...honest!!)
Connie had sent me a card some time ago which had this beautiful image printed on acetate so I decided to try and recycle it.
Using a 4"x4" chipboard mount I covered in a musical score paper, I then tipped out the contents of the lace/ribbon box and found some scraps at the bottom! I used two eyelets so the fibre hanger could be threaded through and knotted at the front. The cut up tag is from a 'Tag Art' collage book which I had forgotten I had - (I think I might have bought it when I thought I might try scrapbooking!! Needless to say, this is the first time I've used it!)
Cannot remember where the 'ribbon rose' came from but it was definitely cut off something! And the shaker style heart came from our village craft shop and was left over from a few wedding cards I made as an order! I have called her second Hand Rose as it sounds so much nicer than recycled Rhona! Although this is nowhere near Jan's standards I'm quite pleased with it for a first attempt.... it wasn't made for anyone or with anything in mind, so I shall just keep it for a little while before I decide what to do with it! Just wish I was a better photograher, this is another one that looks better if you enlarge it!

Final Amount

After all the excitement of last weekend, I have finally calmed down! Today was the final Breast Cancer fundraiser. Once again the weather was kind and our total on the day was £334. The final total is now a huge £1,762! Have been completely overwhelmed by everyone's generosity and although it's been hard work, it's been worth every penny! I shall be sendingoff the cheque at the weekend and this will be one cheque I won't mind writing!

So, my season is almost over, just Club Finals Day left on 21st September then the bowls are being put away for the winter!

Maybe then I will be able to get some time to craft!

This ATC I made last night. Am really getting into collage, so hopefully over the winter months I can get back into creating.

Although the season has been a good one, I have missed sitting here crafting.

Haven't had any time to do any crafting apart from one ATC for Maggies challenge.I am suffering severe withdrawal sypmtoms, particularly as Maureen has sent me some beautiful plaster cast faces which desperately need to be worked with! It has been a mad 10 days - held another 'Pink Day' last Sunday at one of the Clubs. The event raised over £800 so am well happy! Actually I'm completely gobsmacked at the amount we have to date..over £1,300 with one event left. There's some fab pics on the County website (some men look good in pink!!) Follow the link on the right ( County Bowling Site - ) if you want to have a peep! It's shown under the heading 'Team 5'

And yesterday was the biggest day in the ladies County team's history! The rain never stopped and I knew when I arrived at the green it was obvious (even with our artificial surface) that we weren't going to be able to play. Cue worried faces as we knew that if Cumbria managed to play at Yorkshire and win, all our efforts this season would have been for nothing- there would be no time to re arrange this final game of the season and it would just be marked as 'abandoned'. The Durham team arrived and all we could do was sit and wait. The news came through that the green at Yorkshire was playable so that game got underway. I paced round, with my phone in my hand waiting for the result, a few more grey hairs appearing. Once the result came in, I managed to get all my team together outside away from the opposition to tell them their fate! They went barmy when they heard that Cumbria had only managed 2 and a half points from the maximum 11! So we had won by 4 and a half points with a game in hand - Drinks all round and a happy team, husbands, supporters everyone!! The rain didn't spoil the party!!! Oh and my team presented me with a beautiful engraved crystal vase - had to get the hankies out!

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!