Photo for ABAA

A few days at the caravan with no stairs to climb seems to have sorted my bad back out, thank goodness....
....so I finally finished my piece for ABAA and, hopefully, I've made the deadline by the skin of my teeth !
We were challenged to make a piece using a photo of Jaqi's aunt. I dont know why but as soon as I saw the photo I had the old Marie Lloyd song "Don't Dilly Dally" buzzing around in my head...so I've written some of the words on the sides.
The fabric is Anna Griffin and the photo was tinted with a mix of stamp cleaner and pink acrylic paint as it was too glossy and I wanted to make it matte.
Darned if I could spot the bird so I stamped one...! (clever Patty spotted where it is though...!)
Hope you like it !

Free For you

I own these cards and wondered if anyone can make use of them. If so please feel free to download them and use them. (If I've made a mistake and they can't be downloaded properly please let me know...fingers crossed as I'm not known for my computer skills ...Lol! )
I am still having problems with my back and I'm still struggling to sit crafting for very long, so as a thank you to everyone who has been so supportive through my year of blogging, I wondered if anyone would like one of the pieces on my blog and I will also send a little surprise with it.(Happy to post to anywhere!) Please leave a comment and if you would like something I will sort out addys and post an email addy to write to when I get back home. (We are at the caravan for the weekend)
Have a happy crafty weekend guys x

"On The Beach" for Mixed Media monday

I'm afraid crafting is a bit slow and erratic at the moment as I've done my back in, so I've been spending most of my time feeling sorry for myself, and cuddling a hot water bottle....!
I've managed to finish a 4x4 for Rosie's "Beach" theme at MixedMediaMonday and hopefully I can get some more things finished soon.
The "sand" is silicone glue covered with gold dauber. The "waves" are strips of scalloped card, edged with ink and layered. And the image, which I tinted with ink, is from the Bill Blanton archives.
I was hoping to think up a witty caption for this but nope ...nothing...so I think my brain has gone the same way as my back...Lol!
Thanks for popping by x

"Glamour Girls" for Theme Thursday

Here is my "Glamour Girl" for this week's challenge at Theme Thursday which is "glamour girls"
My girl was courtesy of Art-e-zine
The background was made with paisley stamps...stamped in black and gold on a "stone" backing which was scuffed with silver.
The scary thing is I remember using this make-up....but it never made me look like that!
Catch up with you all on Sunday...have a good weekend x

"Numbers" and "Altered Postcard Back"

Here's my "Altered Postcard Back" for Wednesday Stamper
...and my "Numbers" piece for Lots To Do
I finally got to play with my TH clock mask for this one !
DH and I walked for miles last Sunday and woke up on Monday feeling like "death warmed up" so it wasn't long before we were wishing we were a bit younger and could put the clock back....heres my take on going back to the past....!
I used distress inks, gold dauber and "Paper Artsy" stamps.
I triple stamped (using sepia, mahogany and gold) on the words.... and double stamped (using mahogany and gold) on the numbers.
I hope you like what I've made....!
Many thanks to The Feathered Nest for the shared "postcard" download.

"Fossil Stone Technique" for SaWo

Cleo is our GD at SaWo this week and has asked us to make a piece using the "Fossil Stone" technique.
There's a brilliant tutorial on Cleos blog showing us how its done so I thought I'd give it a try.
Heres what I came up with...I hope you like it !

I hope everyone's having a lovely Easter weekend x
...We're going to have a couple of days away so I'll catch up with you all on Monday when I get back home x

Crazy Background for SaWo and Tim Holtz for Crazy Amigos

Heres an ATC for the challenge at SaWo which is "Crazy Background" and also for the challenge at Crazy Amigos which is "Tim Holtz"
I thought it would be fun to use an invoice from The Artistic Stamper to put my background on so I scrunched it up and scuffed it with Rangers Distress ink and then sprayed it with water. I added some drops of gold alchohol ink and then ironed the paper flat. (one of Tim Holtz techniques on his DVD)
I cut a piece of my paper for the ATC and put it onto cardstock and edged it with gold dabber. As the invoice had been for T.H. ideology masks I used one of the masks to make borders with a gold dabber.
The invoice printing (The Artistic Stamper) was showing through so I thought I'd do some stamping and colour it.
Thanks for looking !

"Art" for Lots to Do

The challenge at Lots To Do this week is "Art"
....Well I'm not sure if this is art but I did enjoy doing it and there's been a lot of splodging around while I tried out different things !
... so here's another double-page of my altered bird book. This is double-page 4 so I'm slowly getting there. (The others are quite a few posts back...17th march-ish!)
I used dabbers, acrylic paints,sequin waste, stamps, pearlised glue and gold paint to build up the background.
I hope you like it...and thank you Sam for the challenge x

"Felt " for ABAA

Well the last couple of days have been manic after getting a phone call to say our caravan had sprung a leak from the mains water pipe! As its down in Cornwall it was a mad dash to try to sort it out especially as we're hoping to go there for Easter. Fortunately its all sorted now so I'm glad to get back ....and get stuck into a challenge !
Heres my "Felt" pincushion for ABAA this week.
Basically its a square of felt, folded into a triangle, stuffed and stitched ...and the "ears" tied with ribbon. The flowers are stamped on felt and cut out....and then fabric-glued to the cushion. (Stamp is a "Home and Heart" one and ink was Rangers Distress in Aged Mahogany) A piece of lace and a few pretty coloured dressmakers pins for decoration, and there you have it !
This could also be made to hold lavender or pot pourri I guess.....anyway...I hope you like it !

Come on...Lets twist again......

I've made two more pieces of altered cutlery for the ABAA challenge because I was determined not to be beaten at trying to twist a fork!
(See post below.)
I've also managed to twist the handle of a spoon till it was back to front.. Lol!
I've got four of the metal masks so theres only one more piece to go to make a sort of "set" of four.
Once the fourth piece is done I should have got this out of my system... (oh yeah?)
...off to finish number four.....Catch you later !

Altered Cutlery for ABAA

The amazing Patty Szymkowicz is the guest designer at Awfully Big Art Adventure this week and she has chosen the theme "Altered Cutlery". Patty's altered cutlery is absolutely stunning so theres a lot to live up to !
Nothing ventured nothing gained... so I set about twisting a fork with a pair of pliers...the fork didn't budge...but the pliers twisted beautifully !
Then I tried making a hole in a spoon...which shot up in the air and landed in the sink...so not a good start ! Lol!
I finally decided to just go for embellishing an egg spoon while I was still in one piece !
I gold dabbered the spoon and heat embossed various colours of powder on the back and front of the bowl.
I then wired some beads...making a loop for the charm and threaded the wire back through the large bead to secure it. I wrapped the plain end of the wire around the base of the bowl and twisted the wired beads around the handle.
Finally I gold dabbered the mask and added it to the bowl with silicone glue.
This has got to be some of the most enjoyable crafting I have ever done...Thanks Patty ...and Thanks ABAA !

Card for "Truly Scrumptious"

Here is my card for the Truly Scrumptious challenge which is to follow a sketch......and add something shiny. (My "shiny" is the gold embossing)
I stamped and embossed a piece of cardstock for my image...and then added the other things until I'd built the main card up to follow the sketch.
(The sentiment looks pale blue in the pic but its white in RL !)
Thanks for looking x

Oriental for MMM

The theme at Mixed Media Monday this week is "Oriental" and Rosie has made two beautiful boxes to inspire everyone.
Here's my entry for this week.
This is a book I already had made....it hasn't been entered for any challenges so I thought it would be nice to enter it for this one
.... I hope you like it !

Sew an ATC for SaWo

ATC Front

ATC Back


The challenge at Saturday Workout this week is "Sew An ATC"
Well its nice to do something different and making this ATC was a first for me. I must say I did enjoy myself !
I've made my ATC with fabric and added a pocket so that a small card (or photo) can be put in it.
I didnt have any stiffener so I placed a piece of card between the layers before stitching through them all. (I used my old hand Singer for this as it will stitch through virtually anything !)
The fabric on the back was stamped with Stazon.
I hope you like it !

"Birdhouse" for ABAA

Well I was getting a bit stuck with the altered book I'm making and "Hooray" because the challenge at Awfully Big Art Adventure is "Birdhouse" ! ( My book is a birdwatchers pocket companion so I've been using a bird theme for it)
I've had a lovely afternoon playing again so here's another double page towards finishing my book.
Thanks for taking a look......
(More pages below...!)

"Red and Green" for Colour Create

Colour Create have "Red and Green as their theme this week...with the option of adding wings. Well my bird has wings and so has the bee...so thats me covered twice!
This is another double page of the altered book I'm making.
Thanks for looking x

"Nature" "Doors and Windows" and "Paint

The theme at Created By Hand this week is "Doors and Windows" which seems to fit in with one of the double pages I've done in an altered book I'm making.
...and as there are several layers of paint on these pages I would like to enter it in the Crazy Amigos challenge which is "Paint "
This also fits the theme "Nature" at My Time To Craft.
There's a song thrush hiding behind the door (window) as I'm altering a birdwatchers pocket companion.
Most of my craft time is being spent on this book at the moment so its nice to enter a part of it into these challenges.
Thanks for popping in x

"Mother and Child" for " Gothic Arches"

The theme at Gothic Arches this week is Mother and Child. Our host this week is Jaine....so thanks Jaine for a lovely theme!
Here's my arch for the challenge.
I've probably gone way over the top with all the "pretties" but you can't overdo it where mums and children are concerned can you?
Thanks for popping in x

Altered Book Cover for SaWo

The challenge at Saturday Workout this week is "Altered Book Covers" so here's the cover of the first altered book I ever did.
It measures four and a half by three and a half inches and was an old diary....so it became "My secret Diary" and holds lots of my "secrets" !
The wired beading on the spine was threaded through small eyelets.
Not much more to add except it was done with a combination of inks, stamps, brads and some little charms and swirls.

" Print" for ABAA

Heres my 4x4 for the challenge at Awfully Big Art Adventure which is "Print"
I tore up strips of newspaper and junk mail and painted and stamped them.
Then I took the quote from one of the discarded pages of an altered book I'm making and edged it with ink.
I then glued the pieces at random onto cardstock.
When it was all dry I chose a square I liked and cut it out.
I covered everything with a thin coat of gesso, to even out the tones and finally I added the image.
I hope you like this bit of re-cycling...and thanks for dropping in !

"Flowers" for "Theme Thursday"

Theme Thursday have chosen "Flowers" as the theme for this week so here is my entry.
I've turned a gothic arch upside down to make my piece.
The embellishments are strips of florist's ribbon rolled into "beads" and wrapped and tied with cord.
I hope you like it !

"Woman" for M.T.T.C and "Simplicity" for Crazy Amigo

M.T.T.C. have "Woman" as it's theme this week and Crazy Amigo have "Simplicity" so here is my ATC for both challenges.
Just tearing and chalks for this one !
I hope you like it !

Bookmark for ABAA and Colour Create

Awfully Big Art Adventure have a bookmark as their challenge this week so here is mine....showing both sides.....it's based on the Holy Grail tapestries designed by William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones.
I thought it would be amusing to put some words on the bookmark...just in case the book was boring !
The background is done with a copper dabber and the images are from a magazine.
I'd also like to enter this in the Colour Create challenge which this week has picked the colours "Orange,Yellow and Green"
Thanks for popping by !

Smile for Arty Girlz !

The theme this week at Arty Girlz is "Smile" and has been chosen by our host Anna
Here is my 4x4 for the challenge. The frame is covered with an Anna Griffin fabric swatch and the image is from Gypsy Purse.
I've tried to make the frame so that the flower on the material looks like it's part of the lady's hat.
The frame was made from mountboard, which I cut a square out of, and I then covered it with the fabric. Then I lined up the image behind the opening and covered the back of the whole piece with card.
Its a simple piece but it turned out to be harder to make than I expected !!!

"The Written Word" for Mixed Media Monday

Here is one of the pages of a mini book I've made using Laura Ashley papers.
The words are from one of Anna Griffin's books of quotes...laid on vellum.
This is my entry for this weeks theme (The Written Word" at Mixed media Monday
I hope you like it !

Fantasy... for Gothic Arches

Here's my arch for this weeks challenge at Gothic Arches...the theme is "Fantasy" which was chosen by our talented host this week who is Lynn Anderson
It's been nice to do some crafting today as I haven't been able to do much this week as one of our staff was off sick and another was on holiday so it's been early mornings and late nights for me at our market stall to try to help out. I'm happy we are back to normal this week...whatever normal is...so craft room... here I come....!
I backed my arch with serrated black card tipped with gold...I'm afraid it doesnt show up much in the photo but if you click on it you may see it a bit better.
The background is gold acrylic dabber paint with pearlescent glue swirled onto it.

"Animal Magic" for CCT...and "Animals" for CC

Here's my card for the Cute Card Thursday challenge "Animal Magic"....
and also for the Charisma Cardz challenge which is "Animals"
I've made a "New Baby" card which is for a lovely couple (Sophie and Jae) who are celebrating the safe arrival of their dear son "Leeland"
I coloured the stamping with watercolours.
Imagine if babies were really delivered "parcel post" by hedgies !
I hope you like it and thanks for looking x

"Silhouettes" for Wednesday Stamper

Here's my ATC for this weeeks challenge at Wednesday Stamper which is "Silhouettes".
The stamps are "Fantasy Fairies" from Dovecraft.
When I'd finished I realised I'd put "Flowers and Fairies"...but theres only one fairy (duh!)...so you will have to pretend the rest are hiding!
Thanks for Looking x

2 Butterflies for Arty Girlz !

This weeks challenge from Arty Girlz is "Butterflies".....and as I love butterflies I've made 2 pieces for the challenge....first a small altered tin ...and secondly an ATC.
The lid of the tin was covered with the gold foil that had originally been inside. I put the foil through a CB folder before I glued it onto the lid...the rest of the tin is covered with ribbons, flowers and butterflies.
To make the ATC I laid down blocks of colour then stamped daisies over them. I edged the flowers with gold pen and put black dots along the daisies and stamped "bliss" on one of the colour blocks.
And finally I added the ribbon and butterfly.
I hope you like them both... and thanks for popping in !

Sketch for Papertake Weekly Challenge

Papertake Weekly Challenge have a brilliant sketch by Dawny P for us to follow.
Here is my card made using a Joanna Sheen CD.
The photo is taken at an odd angle again, I'm afraid, so that I could cut out the flare from the mirri board
.....I hope you like it !