Milagros Heart

Looking at the blogs of two of my very talented friends recently, I thought ' I'd like to have a go at making one of them!'

'One of them' was something called a Milagros Heart and it was this week's challenge on 'Awfully Big Art Adventure' . I have to confess that I didn't know what a Milagros Heart was until I saw the explanation on Jan's and Maureen's blog.

The word Milagro means 'miracle' and in Latin American countries such as Mexico and Peru, milagros are small metal religious charms which are pinned to wooden statues or crosses of various saints.

I made the heart shape from mountboard and covered with paper from the 'Once upon a Time' paper stack then added some Enchanted Gold embossing powder round where the picture was to be sited. I thought this image of the Madonna was so beautifully serene and hope it is up to the mark for the ABAA challenge.

Once I'd placed the image onto the heart I then triple embossed the whole piece. The metal embellishments were originally intended as corners for scrapbooking. I added the metal cross and the metal heart with wire to two of the metal corners and put them at the top of the heart shape, adding the third corner to the bottom of the heart.

Watch the Birdie!

I am taking part in a Bird Journal 'Jam' over at New Inspirations. Margaret suggested it after seeing how it was done from the Stampington tutorial.

Each person chose a theme and a colourway for their own little birdie book, with the 'journal' part being optional and each member of the group will complete a bird shaped page for all the others.

So here are my first birdies.

I chose the theme Vintage Floral with muted pastel colours (vintage - now there's a surpise for me!! Not!) and I stuck to a mixed media collage for both sides using lace, satin ribbons and beads.

Margaret chose Nature as her theme with the predominant colour being green. The background paper on the 'Wise Owl' page is courtesy of Flickr as is the Owl image. The eggs are actually cut down plastic eggs which were in a little bag along with a tiny bird in one of the drawers. I have no idea where they came from or how long they've been there but it just proves that my 'I'll keep it cos it may come in useful' habit DID have a purpose this time! The tail feathers are from a large 'peacock' feather that am afraid looked the worst for wear (again stuffed in a drawer!) so I just cut off the 'peacock eye' bit which was in a mess and singly stuck on the rest of the feathery bits. The other side is a distressed background (Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint Inks), with collaged images. Crows aren't known for their tuneful singing so it amused me to stamp musical notes from it's beak! I added a fabric leaf and stamped the leaf images, again using distress inks.

When each member has received all their pages, they're bound together so I will undoubtedly be adding some fibres etc for some texture round the bindings. And of course will be posting the others as soon as I have done them.

Hearts

The Gothic Arch challenge this week was the theme of 'Hearts'. I'm flitting between Art Nouveau, Art Deco and my usual Vintage passion at the moment and I really like this stamp!

Normally if you mention 'Queen of Hearts' I immediately want to shout 'off with his head'!! And then I start dreaming about Alice In Wonderland!

This stamp is by 'alpha stamps', the background is vellum and I used a heart shaped brad to secure the glitter thread at the top then secured behind the stamped image and fanned out. I coloured the stamp with gel pens and watercolours and finally added the 'teardrop' shaped gems.

Inspired by Oriental

I know red and black is much over used when it comes to things Oriental, and much as I like the greens, blues and golds also associated with it, the red/black combo I am still drawn towards, mainly because I think they're striking together.

We were given a sketch this week as a background template on 'Tag You're It' and here is my tag.

The oriental images are printed on a transparency and mounted onto white card hence the pic isn't as sharp as in real life!

(By the way, one of my bloggin 'sisters', Kristen has a draw going on for some Basic Grey papers and other must-have stuff. Draw will be done on Valentine's Day, so why don't you pay her fab blog a visit!)

The Kiss

I made the front page of the blog on Wednesday Stamper with my entry into the Handbag theme set last week. I was chuffed to bits!

So here is the entry for this week which has the theme of Kiss Kiss! I think this image of the 2 cherubs kissing is beautiful.

I decided to use it to make a journal page, so I used pearlised card for the background, then stamped and distressed and used some vintage lace, ribbon and a heart button with a pearl centre.

The wording on the tag reads ' The treasured heart you keep inside will keep my dreams away from harm'- (if you click on the image you get a better overall view - it is definitely not a day for taking photos- too grey and dark!)

I added some paper flowers to the top of the tag and distressed these using 'Tattered Rose' colour.

Spring???

Margaret decided we needed something else to occupy us other than the weekly Monday challenge so she set up a group called MAD Mamma on Flickr..........it stands for Monthly Art Dolls although it does actually describe the participants very well!

This month's theme was Spring.

So please say hello to Flora or Marigold or Daffodil or Daisy....... can't quite decided on a name for her yet! As the weather at the moment is nothing like Spring poor Flora/Marigold/Daffodil/Daisy may have to wait a while longer to take her seed packets from her waistband and use her fork and watering can to plant them !

She's 6" tall and made from a template. After cutting out the body parts I stamped small leaves all over her and made her a 'skirt' from fabric flower petals and added a further yellow flower . Her hat is two fabric leaves and the two ladybugs are tiny wooden embellishments. I put a sparkly fabric flower on each of her feet and gave her a cardboard watering can and fork. Her joints are all connected by brads.

As everyone works off the same template it's amazing how different everyone's interpretation of the theme is... I never thought I'd get into making paper dolls, but have loved doing this!

Tag Your Arch!

Seeing as how I only commented a couple of days ago about how much I was enjoying making tags, imagine how I smiled when I saw this weeks challenge on Gothic Arches was called 'Tag Your Arch'!

I completely resisted the temptation to use one of the tags I had recently made and went off in search of this stamp.

It's one by Elusive Images and I really think it's pretty. I like the co-ordination and duplication between the large plate and the smaller tag.

I sponged and distressed the background in varying shades of pink and used watercolour paint to colour the hydrangea petals.

This arch and it's tag will prbably end up on a card!

The Colour Purple!

This tag is for this week's challenge of 'Purple' on 'Tag You're It!'.

I like this background paper as I think it is really versatile and have it in a number of colours! So I covered my tag shape with the purple shade and then stamped the 2 dragonflies onto plain white cardstock.

I then sponged the white cardstock with ink pad colour ' Purple Rio' and used Mica shimmer powder 'Violet Frost' to paint the wings. The same shimmer powder was used to edge the flower petals.

I decided to attach the top dragonfly with 3d foam pads to give it a raised effect and finally I added some pale purple ribbon.

I fear I am becoming hooked on making tags!!

Engagement

I haven't made any cards for a while but one of my friends asked me to make an engagement card. After concentrating on other things recently, it's suprising how out of the habit of working on a larger project you can get.

Anyway, I was asked to incorporate some kind of envelope on the card so that the present (gift vouchers) could fit inside.

This is what I came up with. The paper is from 'The Luxury Stack' which is quite heavy weight cardstock so was perfect for folding into a holder and also for the pocket to house the holder in. It has a lovely pearlised finish which makes it perfect for weddings, christenings etc.

I decided against making a proper envelope as I felt the paper was too thick so instead stuck with the idea of a tag attached to a holder which can be easily removed by simply sliding out.

I used some vintage edging to highlight the edge of the card and the trifold pocket. I rubbed some 'Antique Lace' Distress Ink over the fabric heart to give it a vintage look and added the same vintage edging, then attached it to the card with a gold heart shaped brad.

I am not a great lover of 'peel-off's' but feel that sometimes they're the best option on cards - I could have stamped the little hearts and the initials of the recipients but as I made a promise to use up some of my old stash I used the peel off's instead!!

Picture folder - 6th Album, 6th Picture

I was tagged by Pattie and Anne to do this and will join in the fun, but I hope they'll forgive me for not tagging anyone else to do it....

The idea is you for to open your picture album on your PC and pick the 6th picture from the 6th Album. My 6th Album is the one that relates to my ancestry research and houses all the photos of my ancestors I have acquired over the last 4-5 years during the course of my compiling my family tree.

This photo is a picture of my Great - Great Grandfather who was born in Ireland in 1806 and was a Sergeant in the Royal Irish Constabulary.

He and his wife had 11 children. One died, 8 of the children emigrated to Australia, one remained in Ireland and the other, my Great- Grandfather left Ireland after serving in the 1st Royal Dragoons, moved to England, became a policeman for a short time and then eventually moved to Liverpool.

My Great-Great-Grandfather and his wife lived in great hardship in Ireland until the 1880's when, despite their advancing years, they embarked on the long journey to Australia.

He died just 18 months after being reunited with his children and his wife died 5 years later.

Tres Chic

The Wednesday Stamper theme was handbags. I sat and thought about using some vintage papers and making that the basis for my project but after a while decided to try something a bit different (well for me anyway!).

I had a card template in a handbag shape so used that. The only rule with Wednesday Stamper is you must use at least one stamp! The little dress stamp I have had since I don't know when and never used and the words were on a fashion plate stamp again bought ages ago and never used!

I highlighted the edge of the black card with white ink and poked about in the ribbon drawer (another thing I must get round to tidying!) till I found the spotty ribbon. The crystal buckle was meant to give the 'bag' a bit of 'haute couture'!!

Never judge a book......

....by it's cover! Margaret's challenge this week was a Triptych ATC on any theme. I like the shape of this one as it is just a scaled down version of a gothic arch!

I used several varying shades of blue ink and sponged the background then stamped several of the 'Ink and Nibs' stamps by Invoke. On the front 'doors' I used a small book embellishment and cut out some specs and case from a Tag Art book by Paper Pizazz. Inside, the same book supplied the image of the lady in her reading room. I painted over the entire ATC with mica shimmer powder in Tropic Blue. The finished ATC has a gorgeous shimmery look to it which isn't completely captured by the photo.

TMTA's challenge this week was the colour 'Ice Blue' and I've submitted this - I hope it fits in with the challenge!

Oh and I almost forgot.. a huge THANK YOU to Maureen who gave me an award for being creative - I really appreciate it and it's now on the right hand side of my page!

What time is it?

When I was small I was told you could tell what time it was by blowing the 'fluffy bits' on a dandelion after it has finished flowering and counting how many times it took you to get rid of all the seeds. I can't remember whether it was an accurate way to tell the time or not but I do remember doing it! Now I curse the wind and small children who blow the seeds as I am convinced they have an in built homing device which leads them to my garden where dandelions flourish in abundance!

The 'Tag You're It' theme this week was Numbers.

I used three different colours of Distress Inks for this tag. I sponged the background with 'Scattered Straw' and stamped the numbers with ' Shabby Shutters'. I used 'Peeled Paint' for definition to the edges.

The dandelion head was embossed in 'Seafoam White' and I finished by rubbing some of the distress ink over the fabric flower.

'THE ALTERED ATC' - wall art incoporating matchbox window shrines

This shrine was the SIS project for Jan/Feb. (Details of SIS can be found here )

The project was to make a 'shrine' using a matchbox and an ATC.

I chose the theme of 'Love' cos it's February and also because I have had this 3 heart embellishment for over 2 years which was rescued from the inside of another project (didn't turn out the way I wanted so it went in the bin!) The 3 hearts and it's red background are air dried clay which have been painted. This fitted perfectly in the inside of the matchbox.

I used gold embossed paper for the box and toned it down a little using black ink and red ink 'dabbers' as the gold was too shiny for my liking - I wanted to achieve a muted 'antique' effect for the frame and box.

So the matchbox was used to house my hearts and the ATC was then cut out to make a window type frame. The ATC was covered in the same paper and toned down like the box. I added the metal embellishments, a tassel and some fibres.

(There is a tutorial on this project written by Ange and it can be viewed here if you fancy trying it! )

Lots To Do have set a theme of 'Frames' for this week so have entered this into the challenge!

Rainbow in Paris!

I recently received some Paris themes ATC's as a result of a 'lottery' on the NI group. I have lots of themes that I like and Paris is included in the list! Consequently I have had some Paris themed ATC's from one to one trades in my album too.

It seems such a pity to own these little works of art and not have them on display so I decided to start putting them on 'Themed' canvases with the idea being that I put them on the walls in the 'den' and display them in rotation.

So here is the first of the themed canvas project which is entitled 'Parisienne Rainbow'! The background is chalked and stamped, with some beads and other embellishments added and the finished piece measures 15" x 12".

Margaret set us a challenge this week of 'Birds' on MAMMA's Monday Musings. I have to confess this ATC took me ages to do - and the finished product is really only a paper collage with a feather! I found the composition difficult - put it down to this dreadful cough making my already bad neck even worse!

As usual, finding the images took me an age.... good job I found the birdie pic last - poor old song sparrow would have well fallen off his perch waiting for me to find the music sheet...will somebody please come tell me why I put a music sheet into the 'hobbies' folder when I have a folder specifically for music sheets? Not that there's many in the hobbies folder............ they're obviously filed somewhere else too! Used Basic Grey paper for the background, Sparrow image came originally from Flickr as did the Music Sheet. Distressed the papers with Antique Linen distress ink, stamped a few musical notes around sparrow and added the feather.

Gypsies

Today the Gothic Arches theme is 'Gypsies'. Here is an arch I made yesterday but couldn't post till today!

This image is from Dover publications although it took me some time to find it as my filing system leaves a lot to be desired. (Isn't it annoying when you know you have something that will fit the theme and you've no idea where you put it?)

The background paper is from DCWV 'The Luxury Stack' - this pad is full of cardstock weight pearlised prints in lovely pastel colours and although the photo doesn't show it very well, this piece has a pale green sheen to it.

I had to search the internet for suitable gypsy proverbs or sayings and although I found one or two that I liked ( such as - 'A tear in the eye is a wound in the heart'), the 'wanderers' one seemed to fit in with the image. I also found the 'Romany' sheet music cover amongst some downloaded vintage images that I had saved some considerable time ago!

The chain embellishment was taken from a necklace and earring set which I picked up in a local charity shop. The flat silver coins appeared similar to those worn round the neck of the romany girl in the picture and I thought complemented and highlighted the overall view of the arch.

Tag

I have been able to have a crafting day today as I am still bothered with a nasty cough so I needed to stay indoors.(My excuse anyway!) One of the good things about having lots of time is you can trawl through all the challenge sites and then work your way through them!

Tag You're It! had posted a challenge yesterday called 'Sugar Candy Kisses', so this morning I sat and made this little tag which I thought would be suitable for a new baby. (One of the things I think about tags is they can also be made into a greeting card with a little bit of imaginiation so this one may well end up on a card at some time in the future if I can find a suitable background!)

Anne (one of my 'Blogging Stamper' sisters) had sent me these brilliant images of fairies on top of their own cakes last year and this was the last one- it seemed perfect for the challenge.

After mounting the fairy and her cake on top of some thick card, I used foam pads to raise her up from the actual tag and a pink patchwork button instead of an eyelet to secure the ribbon. Some glitter glue applied to accentuate her wings, a tiny paper heart in the bottom left hand corner and a couple of buttons 'holding' on the greeting of 'Hello Cupcake' and my tag was done!

Young Marie and her Beau?

Over at Theme Thursday, todays challenge was 'Couples'.

I have developed a liking for all things outrageously tragic and French as my blogging friend Margaret is obsessed with Marie Antoinette! This image reminded me instantly of Marie Anionette as it depicts all the outrageous fashion of the time, the powdered wigs, huge skirts and of course the painted on beauty spot! (A 'must have' fashion item at the time). The collarless dress jacket and breeches with the fancy waistcoat worn by the boy shows that during the early to mid 1800's, the clothes worn by middle and upperclass children older than toddlers (especially by girls) continued to be uncomfortable-looking miniature copies of the clothes worn by adults, with the exception that girls wore back-fastening bodices and petticoats rather than open-fronted robes. Towards the end of the 1780's, there was a change to styles that were more practical for children's play — long trousers for boys, and loose ankle-length skirts for girls. I bet they were delighted! I printed the photo onto glossy paper and then edged it on 3 sides with black glitter card, finishing off with a glossy black and silver flourish that I think came from a Christmas card! The sliver and black embossed backing paper was edged in black sequins and a pearl heart attached at the bottom. I finished the piece with a crystal 'shoe' buckle similar to the boy's shoe and threaded some black lace through to mirror the downright extravagance of the period! (And also to make something that the recipient could hang it up with!!! )

Heart

Over at MAMMA, there is a Valentine's challenge using a heart shaped template.

I am not good with a sewing needle and find working with fabric quite difficult so I opted for the safe old paper creation! Whilst I have in my list of favorites things pink, romantic and vintage I decided to have a change for this challenge.

The background of this heart is handmade paper which has been 'crinkled' although this doesn't show up very well on the photo. (In fact, I am not pleased with this photo as I was happy with this project once I'd completed it and I don't think this shows it off to it's best, so trust me, it DOES look better in 'real life'! If you want a better view just click on the picture - it makes it larger and clearer.)

After adding the crinkle paper, I double edged the heart with two different layers of lace. I placed a second layer of corrugated card over the back attaching the brown hanging ribbon before glueing.

The little brown spotty heart at the top is made from thin wood and I added fibres, a flower and a skeleton leaf and two fabric butterflies before attaching the silver 'Love' word charm. Over at 'Created by Hand' the challenge was to create something using the word Love - so here it is!