Autumnal Colours at Artful Times

Challenge number 39 over at Artful Times is Autumnal Colours with a suggestion of using reds, golds, browns, yellows and oranges.  With my track record I am surprised I did not say "Rusty Hinge"!  Anyway, for my inspiration I made a DL card and used this stamp that I have had for simply ages.

Following a workshop at our club with Lindsay Mason I cut two pieces of cardstock and with the largest I stamped some leaves in white acrylic paint, dried it off and then went over with .... Rusty Hinge DI.  (sorry, I am so predictable).  The white paint resisted the die ink somewhat.

Then I stamped the image on the smaller piece of cs with Sepia Archival Ink and proceeded to colour it in with various shades that are autumnal using my Caran D'Ache colours before finishing the edges off with Walnut Ink DI.  Oh, and I tore the top of the smaller piece to give a jagged edge and finally mounted the whole piece on brown cs.

Quite a while ago I decorated one of those "I" mirrors with UTEE in various metallic colours.  Recently I am looked at it and couldn't quite make my mind up whether it needed a big facelift or what.  

Does it need darker paint underneath (and if so how do I get behind the utee?)

Does it need a lot more utee putting on?

Should I choose a different colour for the wording?

Should I allocate it to the charity box?

All these questions are going around in my head.   Must say though that it did look better irl than it does here.  These closeups are not doing it any favours.

bottom left

 bottom right 

Well, because I am the only one doing this challenge for Artful Times I decided to go for it so out came the UTEE and I began "slopping" it on.

Looks kind of purplish!  The only other colour I added that hadn't been on before was "Russet Pearl" - it looks much better than this - but in bright light does have a cast on it.  Not happy!  So undaunted I added Copper Sparkle - stamped one of my favourite images into it and came out with this.

Now not sure I like it at all - charity box I guess!

I am entering my card into Make my Monday (Flowers or Trees) Challenge.  About time I got back into this challenge entering.

WOYWW 225

Oh heck - not been in a card making or crafting mood at all this week.  Got a busy period coming up too so am not sure how things are going to pan out with me over the next couple of months either. Am off to Port Sunlight this weekend so that should be good but I can't see me watching many dems or doing much shopping as I have arranged to meet so many people I am sure I will spend the day chatting.  Perhaps I need to be there when it opens but I don't fancy queuing and there is always a long long queue.

Anyway, here is my desk as it stands at the moment.  A couple of cotton shirts waiting to be completely pulled to bits so that I can have some pieces to make another of those patchwork bags like I did with Mary when I went on the PlayAway.  If I hadn't pulled my sewing machine out I would never have got around to it.

Having trouble with getting the collars and cuffs off without cutting into the fabric.  Am I using my stitch unpicker wrongly?

Hope somebody on WOYWW can help.  

Paris

This is a canvas I made for my friend Mary in America for her birthday.  I knew she liked the Julie Nutting dolls and so I did one on a canvas.  Mary's family also has some connections with France so I gave it a French theme with a diecut of the Eiffel Tower and some French advertising.

Of course we all have seen the caricatures of the onion sellers on their bicycles so I had to introduce a two wheeled mode of transport but instead of sporting onions it had tiny diecut flowers spilling from the basket.

The actual canvas was coloured with Pan Pastels and PP's were also put through some stencils for the background along with the use of some sequin waste.  The doll was stamped on and cut from the printed page of a book and the dress was stamped and cut from scraps of cardstock.  The adverts are all done on bits of card coloured with my favourite - Distress Inks.

All the dies are available from Oyster Stamps (except the Eiffel Tower which I bought from Mary when over last year) and the butterflies and the flowers were left over from the last Stamp Retreat in Daventry.

I am now entering this into the Simon Monday Challenge - Stamping on anything but plain paper - my first challenge entry in months!

A Friday Smile or Two

Well, today my big son came to see me before he starts work on Tuesday.  He was made redundant in March and we all got quite despondent in the last couple of months so it was lovely when he finally  got a job.  Mum simply had to see him before he starts work as there will be no more visits during the week for a while - just hope he settles and enjoys it - sounds like a good company to work for.

Had to smile as he opened the bag he had brought with him and said "I have something for you mum". Then produced a sweater he wanted mending at the neck and a bath robe he wanted a fastener putting on.  Men!  Still it was lovely to have him here for lunch and the afternoon.

If you want a smile this week head on over to Annie's blog and see what she and others have been smiling about.

Decided to hang on to a wall plaque I made with Lindsay Mason at a workshop she did for Victoria Stampers until today because the little cute image and the wording makes me smile - hope it does you too.

I brought mine home and mounted it on a larger piece of corrugated card which I had painted and then embellished on the edges with gold ep.  I just love it and I don't do cute!  Bet a certain little girl, who is coming tomorrow, thinks it is for her - and gets to take it home!

ps: forgot, my son (all 6'5" of him) saw a big man's shirt I had bought to be used as an art cover-all and has now taken it home to try on (it was damp having just been washed).  Is nothing sacred?

WOYWW 224 (please put your number if possible)

I cannot believe another week has gone by, wonder how many other blogs will be saying that?  Time is just running away and there is so much to do and so much I want to do.  Do you ever feel you would like to put a hold on time, freeze everything except you so you could play catch up?

At the moment I feel as if I am meeting myself coming back but I am enjoying myself as 80% of what I am doing is crafting related. Nothing to show you on my desk I am afraid as I have been playing catch up with some things I need to get in front with so cannot show them as yet.

Here it is as it stands now

The box on the left holds some of my um's - the leaf and tree ones that are unmounted.  So I thought I would show you how I store my um's - sorry if I have shown you before.  They are stamped onto a piece of paper with others in the same category and then the paper is laminated and the stamps stick on them.

Here is a clearer view

and here they are on the shelving

Did, initially, intend them all to be silver but as these boxes come inside a larger one I just ran out of room for the others so went over to buying the black boxes that you slot together.  Then couldn't get black so I bought red, then .... striped!  Ah well can't have a perfectly coordinated room any more.  Each of these hold a different category and the "C" ones are behind (the shelves are very deep).  In the beginning I did keep a file with all the images in as well but that fell by the wayside a while ago and now is too onerous a task to begin. Plus I gave images away as I tired of them so the whole file is full of crossings out.

I can't cope with stamps in a folder like the Stampers Anonymous ones come as they keep falling off - how do you store yours?  Lots of storage ideas on WOYWW - pop over and look!

Read on if time permits but stop here if you are just WOYWW'ing.

Hope I commented on all who commented on my blog last week. Had a fabulous two days is the Lake District.  Beautiful hotel, lovely staff, great food and I /we just loved the room we had.

back of hotel, our room was on the ground floor - to the left, hidden by the bush!

front of hotel

our room opened onto the garden and we had our own private patio 

with table and chairs

and this view to Winderemere Lake

Afternoon Tea on arrival - delightful

Evening Meal - delicious

Breakfast - Full English

want to go again and be pampered!

Scrap Art - Artful Times Challenge

When I was preparing this a couple of months ago - working in advance for the challenges - I should have taken notice of the date and seen it was for Friday the 13th!!!

First of all I wanted to do something with a couple of my cat food boxes (again) and decided to make a holder for my finished cards so I always had a birthday card, get well card etc ready.  No vision, you understand, of what the finished product would be like or what I would use on it for colour/decoration etc.  It started life just painted with old Acrylic dried up dabbers that had been mixed and mixed with water to get to some consistency that could be painted and then stencilled.  Didn't like!

Tissue paper from shoe box?  Didn't look right.  Torn up dictionary/street map pages.  A bit of Distress Ink - ugh!    Like the inside (why did I not leave the outside as was?).  Inka Gold - Orange? Green?  Hematite?  More Orange which looks a bit like Gold?  Ah well, can cover most of it up with ...

Die cuts.

Steampunk bit centre top is handle

Steampunky die cuts.  Bits of card, book pages, bits of mountboard (good job I hoard scraps) - here it is - my box for storing my cards in. Not really what I would have envisaged but it is grungy and it sort of is me.  I'm happy.  Now I need some more cards to store in it!

My advice on this challenge?   Wait until tomorrow to start and then it will be the 14th - join in the fun at Artful Times with us.

Friday Smile

Two weeks now I have joined in with Annie and her Friday Smiles - don't collapse!  Most times I am too busy but having just been away for a night in the Lake District (Tues/Wed) followed by a trip to Event City (Thurs) to see Oyster Stamps about the next Retreat (Lincoln) I am teaching at, I have not got my head in gear for doing anything (like washing, cleaning or crafting).

Just uploaded my photos from the Lakes and have to say I smiled when I saw this one of the Gingerbread shop and its delightful garden - easy to grow?

Why not head over to Annie's blog and see what treats she has in store for you - then follow the links of the others who join in, I'm just heading over myself, let's go.

WOYWW 223

Well, here I am NOT - this is a scheduled post which I hope Julia does not mind but I haven't missed a WOYWW since I began with them and don't want to miss one now just because I am spending a night in a hotel in the Lakes.  It's a night of luxury for the OH's birthday which I got him way back in August and which we have just managed to fit in now.

For those of you who wanted to see my Finnabair posts you can find them here and here.  As I have been busy posting there is nothing new to show you and my desk just has the remnants of a workshop with Lindsay Mason on which we had at Victoria Stampers last weekend.  Tomorrow I am going to Event City to meet up with Oyster Stamps and Ali-Crafts to sort out my next contribution to the weekend retreat at the very end of November to be held in Lincoln.  Busy times ahead!

Anyway, here is my desk but before I leave can I please ask you all to leave your number for me as it makes it so much easier to comment on your blog, especially if you have more than one blog you list in your profile.

Pile of boxes on left of photo contain my Finnabair leftovers and photographs.  Green container is a cut down milk carton with some Distress Stains in (oh, and purple one too)  - bits and bobs on desk are from the Lindsay Mason workshop (to be finished and blogged later this week).

More Finn (and Annie's Smile)

Continuing the workshop I attended in Swindon last weekend (is it really a week since I set off for the wonderful event?) and which is in the previous post, here are some more photos - this time of my journal.  This is definitely something I will be making again and I have already sent off for a smaller one to do.  Remember, I had shown you in yesterday's post how the two covers met in the middle and almost spelled out my name - well here is the whole cover:

Front

Both back and front together

Because I had not thought to take any photographs to include in my pages (or on my LO and canvas shown to you yesterday) I had to use some Vintage ones that the shop had printed off for us. That suited me fine as I like vintage and I am not as young or photogenic as Anna is either.  (Plus I did like the Anna photo on my canvas and it serves as a nice memory of her workshop.)

I have not finished the third set of pages yet but thought it about time I showed you the two I had done - and finished off at home I must add.  Here they are:

I had to add the photo and the circles to this one

This just needed some flowers so I used canvas ones

I really am itching to get some more pages done for this journal which is going to be an experimental one in various versions and adaptations of Anna Dabrowska style.

Before I leave this workshop post I have to share with you some photos of an incredible sunset we witnessed on the way home. Unfortunately we could not stop, all we could do was look in admiration at the painting in the sky.  We managed to stop in a lay-by just before we lost the picture which could only be described as "awesome" so I am sorry you don't get the "wonder" we had earlier but it still is pretty impressive.  I am entering these sunsets into Annies "Smile week" because it makes me smile to see Nature as an artist that so many people can enjoy.

Finn Weekend

As mentioned yesterday I spent the weekend in Wiltshire on workshop with Finnabair (Anna Dabrowska) and as promised (finally Karen) here are the things I made:

a 12" x 12" Layout

All of those wonderful metal pieces and the flowers were provided and there are several layers of Finn's fabulous papers stuck down together to make it a substantial piece of art.  You really need to check out what she has and what you can buy - some really great stuff.

Then we did a canvas.  This is my favourite piece.  I just love the colour achieved with mainly the use of Gesso.  Sadly it does look so much better in real life.  (ok Sam, it's a bit floral - I got carried away trying to give it depth)

and finally

We were given two Journal covers which are foamy on the inside and the outside is canvas with a resist design on it.  Not sure if we all had the same but on our table we had letters.  Am going to make you wait a little longer for the pictures but you can see a small section where the back and front covers join - this almost spelled out my name - see

OK, will upload my Journal and a couple of pages for the inside another day.  Hope you enjoyed today!

WOYWW 222

Well, it's just gone midnight and I was dropping off but suddenly realised it is WOYWW day!  Oh heck.  Just been away for the weekend, stayed with friends and have not even unpacked my stuff yet so here is my desk.

My Distress Inks (took them all but never used one!), baby wipes, piece of cardstock, pencil case and three projects done with Finnabair!!!  You will have to wait to see them in detail - maybe later in the day or tomorrow more likely.

This is a view of my desk one day last week when I had opened a package I had won from the lovely Gita.  Imagine my delight as all this fell out - certainly can be put to good use in my craft room. Thank you so much Gita.

Short and sweet - pop over and join in the fun with Julia and hopefully show your desk - but please, if you do, do display your number - much easier to comment.

See you later folks!