Starting the Year with the Inspirational Deck Swap

Now the mince pies have settled and the fireworks have gone off and 'normal' life resuming I wanted to share some of the wonderful cards that I got from the Inspirational Deck Swap I participated in.  It arrived between Christmas and New Year like a belated but very welcome present and it's stunning.  So many artists have come together to make this a wonderful swap.

 Here are just some of the fabulous cards that I've pulled out of the deck to share with you today.  The above artists are Kristin Dudish, Annette R Lansing and Joann Loftus.  The cards below were made by Sandra Beligi, Mary Jane Chadbourne and Grace Mendex.

They really are a very inspirational way to start the New Year.  I've just got to decide whether to make a box, a journal or a ring to keep them all in mmmm........

And I shall be visiting the artists and their blogs/facebooks etc over the next few days, really looking forward to meeting you all.  Thank you for all your superb work.

Hope you've all had a wonderful festive time and may I wish you a Happy, Creative and Artistic 2013!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas Crafts

 I've been busy making things for some Christmas Craft Fairs I've been standing.  These trees are made from the pages of an old copy of A Christmas Carol by Dickens and I used corks for the bases.

 These jotters are made out of junk envelopes with book print and buttons

A selection of Christmas tags with vintage images, lace and buttons and a smattering of glitter

These kilt pin brooches are lovely to make, involving me getting all my beads out (and I have way too many) and sorting out different colour combinations - a delightful job :-)

with little metal charms added.  These jingle really sweetly, when you move.

And last, but not least I've made some little books, actually using some of my scrapbook paper stash instead of just looking and admiring it!

That's the last craft fair stood today, now on to christmas present making, a crafters work is never done, lol

Little Quote to Ponder for Tuesday

Another ATC from the Inspiration Card Deck Swap - Happy Tuesday!

2012 Inspiration Card Deck Swap

 I thought you might like to see my stages for creating 52 cards for this fabulous swap

 

First I chose 3 soft pastel colours and painted the old set of playing cards with them, some all one colour, some a mix, depending what I had on my palette or brush.  I then gave them a second coat, still allowing part of the original playing card to show through, adding interest.

 

 I then adhered torn pieces of book paper to the cards and again, over painted it with the soft pastel acrylics, the words still visible through the paint.

 

I then took ripped up pieces of patterned paper napkins and pasted them over the top of the words and paint, sometimes covering the whole cards, sometimes only covering a section.  I then stamped images on to the cards, adding a further layer of interest.

 

 I then printed out the quotes on computer paper and cut and pasted them onto the cards, as they came out of the pack, no sorting out just working my way through  them.  I then highlighted around the quotes, roughly in soft pencil, to make them pop off the page.

I'll share some more quotes with you over the coming weeks :-)

Catching Up

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post and I can't stay long this time.  Just to say 'Hello' and I'm still here and I hope to get you all properly caught up with my makings and doings etc in the next couple of days but here's just a quick glimpse of some of the 52 cards I've made for the 2012 Inspirational Card Deck Swap.
Back soon!!

Fabric Musings and Chutney Making

It doesn't take much to make me happy.  I got this little lot of offcuts for the princely sum of £1.20 - what a bargain.  Most of them I thought would make great journal covers.  

 I then went out and bought some christmas themed fabric and it sits looking at me, waiting for my little grey cells to come up with some inspiration for this years decorations. 

 Whilst waiting for inspiration, and taking advantage of a marrow, residing, largely, in my fridge and I decided a wet, cold Sunday in September was the ideal time to start making chutney as future Christmas presents.  Here was the start of the Marrow and Red Tomato Chutney

 and this was the Ratatouille Chutney, which really looks most christmassy with the red tomatoes and the green of the courgettes.  I'd forgotten how long it takes to chop the vegetables and cook it so it's taken most of the day.  Only time now for a bit of internet surfing before everything stops for Downton!

A little craftiness for Me

I decided to make something for me for a change, well okay, it was actually a bit of avoidance because otherwise I would have to tackle the task of setting up an online shop on Etsy and just don't feel like climbing that technological mountain today.

So a kilt pin brooch it was!  A friend gave me the guardian angel charm from Lourdes recently and I immediately thought it would look good on one of these brooches.  The other beads came from another friend a while back in the form of broken jewellery and a crystal necklace, left to me by my grandma.  I can't wait to wear it! 

Mountain climbing another day, promise :)