Zentangled star

I saw this star on the Zentangle website of Rick and Maria and just had to have a go! The zentangling is a bit basic, the paper I used was a bit too thick (watercolour 300gsm) and the pen was a bit scratchy and running out of ink but apart from that, I'm happy with the shape!

The lid of box no. 3

I felt that this deserved a post all of its own. I know you have all seen the organza flower in a previous post but I am happy with its final destination on the lid of this box which I secured with "no nails". Off to make some more organza flowers..........

And box no. 3!

This box has gone through many phases. Through the night I hated the bottom of it and tonight I have transformed it with my new La Blanche stamp and now I love it! It is really all a learning curve and I am fast finding that nothing is set in stone. You can always rescue your original artwork with a little imagination! Throw nothing away!!

Box number 2

I love the paint effect on this box, pity it doesn't show up so well in the photo. I used Colourcraft Aztec Lustres paint which gives a gorgeous, well, lustre finish! Then I again used the gold acrylic swiped over certain areas. Had fun stamping floral images from Elusive Images Meadow stampsheet then embossed again with Sheena's WOW gold EP. From a previous project I found the perfectly matching tissue paper to stuff inside before finishing off with some gold braid around the edge of the lid and a butterfly brooch. I've already begun work on Box No. 3........

Altered boxes

Some of you may know that I have embarked on an on-line course on altered boxes with the talented Louise Crosbie, aka Zuzu's Petals. This is my first box and I had a lot of fun altering it. First I sprayed it with mica powders that I mixed with water in my mini-spritzer. The colour is a beautiful peach though it doesn't show up too well in this photo. Then I dry brushed over it with gold acrylic paint and added a torn napkin with a roses and music theme and complemented that with some torn, distressed music paper around the sides. I then rubbed gold wax here and there over the music paper and finished off the lid with one of Sheena Douglass's flourish stamps embossed with her brass WoW EP. I coloured some lace with Distress Ink and attached it to the side of the lid. I'm happy with my first effort but realise now that I need to have a complete theme in mind and the necessary embellishments to decorate it before I begin my second box (though I have to confess to having already painted one in delicious pearlescent blue acrylic and again added dry brush gold acrylic on top in readiness - lol!) Loving this journey!

Another Christmas teabag card

I had some die cuts left over from a previous project and decided to make another (final - lol!) teabag card. Sometimes life is just too short and other interesting techniques beckon. So if you receive this card from me this Christmas, put it somewhere safe, it could just become a collectors item :)

Fascinating Organza!

I have been wanting to try to make an organza flower for a week or so and finally bought the material on Saturday and made this on Sunday. I was hoping it would be brooch-size but it turned out to be 15cm in diameter! I think it will have to be either worn on the head (a fascinator?) or sewn onto a bag. I found a piece of Friendly Plastic that I had "oozed" with Angelina fibres which seemed to match it perfectly. DH kindly made holes in it and I sewed it in place. The colour doesn't come out too well in the photo but the organza is a beautiful shimmery deep burgundy. Fun to make but patience required!

Tea-bag folded Christmas card

Here is a tea-bag folded Christmas card that I made in advance of Friday's workshop.Of course there are many variations on tea-bag folds but this is the most basic one. (Don't forget to click on the photo to see it in greater detail.)

Iris folded Christmas cards

Gosh, it is nearly 6 weeks since I last posted. What a naughty blogger I am! I am running a workshop on Friday on the techniques of iris folding and teabag folding. Here are a couple of samples I've prepared in advance.

A new series.....

I thought I'd do a series of cards like this as they are fairly quick and easy. Well, after the preceding post I thought I needed to speed up my production somewhat - lol! This was created by laying down some Distress Inks on my craft mat, spritzing with water and finally dragging some glossy photo paper through it. I then mounted it onto some complementary coloured card and finally onto some A5 white card stock. The greeting and insert were done on the computer. I feel the photo doesn't do it justice as, in real life, the image is really glossy, but I hope you like it.

A challenge to myself......

I don't do quick and easy cards but this one took the biscuit for the most complicated and longest in the making I think I have ever made! I really wanted to make this card as I loved the design of the brass stencil and decoupage images by Mattie. This was not die cut! First I embossed the swirls on my lightbox and then cut out various elements. I cut round parts of it, leaving some attached to the frame. Then I added some blue backing paper and cut out the hat and added 3 layers of flowers with sticky pads (couldn't find my silicon glue!) I really enjoyed making this card and think it is one of my most satisfying to date. I won't tell you how long it took me to make...... but if you should receive it, you'll know how very special you are to me!

Favourite leaf

I felt this little leaf deserved a picture of its own as it is definitely my favourite. It was stamped on acetate with black Stazon and gilded flakes were added on the reverse side.

Leaf samples

I am running a papercraft workshop on Thursday and thought I would make up a page with a variety of ways of using the same stamp to get different effects. I'm sure there are many more but think this will suffice for the moment!

Pam's birthday card

This is an encaustic piece that I made a few months ago. My friend Pam admired it and so I earmarked it for her birthday card. Happy Birthday, Pam!

Joyeux Anniversaire, Violette

Here's a card that I made for a dear French neighbour whose birthday is today. The beautiful little vintage girl image was a free download from somewhere. The frame is a Clarity corner stamp embossed in gold and I added some punched flowers and jewels in the corner. Just off now to present it to her together with a large tin of Celebration chocolates!

Chic chick

This is a card that I made this afternoon for a French friend of mine. She is always so beautifully dressed with matching jewellery, bag, shoes etc. and lived and worked for many years in Paris. The lady stamp is a Clarity stamp which I stamped with black Archival ink, cut out then stamped on various papers and cut out to "dress" her. The signpost and the souvenir de Paris are part of a sheet of Aladine stamps that I found here in a local garden centre.

Art card

Here is a card that I made for a dear professional artist friend who recently stayed with us. It looks like a simple card but in fact comprises many different techniques. The A R T letters were made with alcohol inks on Bondaweb, stencilled over with TH mask letters and cut out. The easel was a Clarity stamp, as was the paint brush which was stamped and then cut out and painted with Inktense pencils. The palette was stamped onto opaque shrink plastic, coloured (though you can't see it!)and cut out. I am quite pleased with the finished card and I hope she will be too!

Sue's birthday card

Here is a card that I made for my friend Sue who is in a clinic having intensive physio on her new knee at the moment and that is where she will be spending her birthday! The card was done by swiping alcohol inks onto glossy card, then dropping blender solution onto it. I then passed it through the Cuttlebug with a musical notes embossing folder. The greeting was done on the computer. Sue sings in a choir so I thought this would fit the bill!

Karen's birthday card

This was quite a challenge for me as Karen, my niece, is definitely not a hearts and flowers person card-wise. You may know from a previous post that she recently suffered a severe stroke which has left her paralysed down her left side. She is in a stroke rehab unit now undergoing intensive physio to try to help her regain the use of the left side including her eye. So creating a birthday card for her at this difficult time was never going to be easy - nothing too sombre, nothing too frivolous. Despite the fact that she will be 45 next Monday, Karen is still a Goth at heart and although forum friends kindly sent me appropriate images, I just couldn't get my head around that kind of genre enough to create a card using the designs in the time available. In the end, I decided on this encaustic art card which I had recently made. I thought it might help her in some small way to glance at it occasionally and try to figure out what it means. Could it be a cave in the middle of a forest? How was the texture created? For people who haven't seen encaustic art before, I think half the fun is having them think "now just how did they do that?!" Anyway, I do hope she likes it. Time enough for Goth-type cards when she is fully recovered. Sadly, it seems I will have plenty of time to practise those type of cards but I aim to have one ready for her next birthday!

Seeing double!

This week I have made two cards for Golden Wedding anniversaries - one for our lovely French neighbours who are foster parents to Teddy and the other for our good friends, Chris and Keith. It was fortunate for me that I could copy my original design to make the second card and I hope that both recipients like them. I was so pleased to be able to use my new Cuttlebug to die cut the hearts and emboss one of the layers on these cards.

For Karen

Here is a card that I made this week for my niece, Karen who has suffered a stroke at the age of 44 years. She is paralysed on her left side and has been in intensive care for the past 10 days but is showing signs of recovering. I wanted to make a card that would make her smile and hope this one fits the bill!

For Theresa

This is a Shari Carroll style card that I made for a dear Scottish friend of mine who is going to attempt, with her sister, to cross from one side of Scotland to the other next month. They made a promise to their dying father last year that they would do it so it will be bitter-sweet for them. They went walking in the Lake District many times with him so will have happy times to recall along their journey as well. Good luck Theresa and Ann Marie!

More encaustic paintings!

Thought I show you a few of the pictures that I did yesterday while giving the encaustic workshop. The ladies came up with some great pieces too and were very happy with their day.

Another encaustic card

Well, I've been playing around with my wax all week and this is my latest offering. The trees are a Clarity stamp which I stamped onto glossy card with Adirondack Espresso ink. Both pieces are mounted on gold mirror card and the greeting is stamped and embossed in gold. I am quite enjoying revisiting this technique and hope to make some more cards with this medium while the Muse is on my shoulder!

Encaustic card

Suddenly encaustic art has had a revival! In the space of just one week, Michael and Shona have appeared on Create & Craft with their encaustic art demonstrations, my forum friend Hilda has blogged an encaustic art square and I have been asked to do a workshop in encaustic art! Not having looked at my encaustic art products for more than 5 years, I was persuaded to have a play. Here is the result.

Clarity landscape

I finally got around trying my first Clarity landscape yesterday and here is my second attempt. The first attempt was really brilliant................ at how not to do it! i.e. stamp and mask off your image before you do the sky and background! Remember how you tore the paper to make the hills as you will need it later to make the next layer! Anyway, I managed to cover up my biggest mistake with a little "hedging" on the hills. At least I managed to do the brayering to a degree of satisfaction this time! Just don't look too closely!

SECC craft stash!

As you can see I certainly did my bit for the UK economy at this year's craft fair at the SECC in Glasgow. In fact, I have it on good authority that they all positively RELY on my being there every March in order to keep the venue alive - lol! I had a great time as usual and was thrilled this year to meet Sheena Douglass in person and to have a chat with Barbara (Gray)as she wasn't there last March. These ladies are such an inspiration to me and countless others. Now, the problem is, just where to put it all?!

My beautiful birthday cards!

Now that I have returned from Scotland, I've been able to put all my cards together and here they are! Many thanks to all my lovely family and friends who have bought or made me such stunning cards and gifts.

A special birthday card

This is a 70th birthday card for a dear friend in Italy. I made it using my new My Craft Studio "Fab Glam Fifties" CDs. On the CD, the image is called "Sharon" so thought it was appropriate somehow, though of course, she'll never know that! The placing of the image and the greeting were both dictated by "happy accidents"!

Whose Birthday card is THIS?

I've got a few friends' birthdays coming up next month. Could this one be yours?!

Ghostly apparitions!

This week sadly sees the last Lots To Do challenge so I just had to enter, even though the challenge was my "bete noir" - brayering! I bravely brayered onto Clarity glossy card with B&J Hydrangea then spritzed with water and covered with cling film which I then scrunched and left to dry naturally. I was pretty pleased with the result - I swear I can see Marie Antoinette on the right-hand side with her big hair and little triangular face. Is that the flapping of white coats I hear? Anyway it seemed a shame to cover it up so just a little matting and layering and a stamped greeting completed this A5 card. Click on the image to enlarge and you too will see her. lol!