What a wash out

my break away that is. I have never been to Cornwall and had weather like this week. It began raining on Saturday evening and kept going all day Sunday and then every day it has pored down at some point, not fun, so we packed up this morning and came home . I must say I did enjoy spending the time with my Husband and boys, we had conversations by mouth rather than text messages or emails, yes my eldest son, Adam, has been known to send me emails from upstairs.

We didn't let the weather keep us in to much and did manage to visit a few lovely fishing villages, Mevagissey absolutely stunning, really quaint little fisherman's cottages and also Fowey (pronounced Foy as we found out from Adam, a wealth of information that boy lol )

We also finally, after several years of saying we would, paid a visit to the Eden Project. I'm not really big on green houses, I feel plants should be grown in the natural conditions they need rather than an artifical surrounding but I have to say I am so glad that I had the chance to see the amazing plants that are grown in the tropical biome, real bananas on the tree and pinapples growing right there in front of me, wow, well worth a visit if you are ever in the area. I had hoped to have loads of photos to post but my camera decided to die on Sunday, not a good start to the holiday and didn't put me in the best of moods at all as it is only 5months old.

So now I am back home I am going to treat myself to some quality time creating, so watch this space.

wot no art !!!!!!!

I'm off to Cornwall for a week and the idea of not having any of my crafting materials with me is leaving me a bit on edge, I know I don't make things on a daily basis but knowing I can't make anything even if the urge should overtake me is bringing me out in a cold sweat lol. I have a copy of Stampers Sampler and Somerset Studio to take with me so I will still get my fix of eye candy.

I am taking my camera with me and with the gorgeous scenery in Cornwall I'll probably be posting loads of photos on here when I get back.


See you all in a week.

Charmed

After seeing some of the fantastic charms people have created I was itching to have a go and so I orgainised a charm swap with a group of friends. Making charms is a new thing to most of us who are taking part, but from those I have seen so far it promises to be a very exciting swap.

My charm is about 4cmx3cm in size, alcohol ink background, collaged dragonfly and stars and then the whole thing is enclosed in acetate.

Wednesday Stamper

The theme for this weeks challenge is Fleur de Lis. I don't own any fleur de lis stamps so I did think i wouldn't be able to take part but after a bit of hard thinking I came up with something. The background is made using acrylic paints and I then used the paints on a scrap of card and hand drew a fleur de lis shape and over stamped it in silver. The face image is stamped onto tissue.

the flipside

I have only just got around to doing the second side of louises beer mat, really hope she likes this side as it is a bit different to the first side.

A new one on me.....

beer mats in art, I usually use them for standing my glass on but Louise wanted me to turn one into a page for a beer mat book she wants to make. She has sent quite a few mats out to friends with just the brief that she wants the page to reflect the work of the person doing it, so here is mine, stamps by Art Journey and Paperartsy

tag book swap

I have recently taken part in a swap with Dawn. I made 5 tags and then after I'd finished the decorating I made them into a little book. I think my favourite part was finding all the little beads and charms to finish the tags with.

Now I know Dawn has received this I thought I'd show it here.

I've been tagged

By Paula

"So, the rules are: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to blog about their 7 things and post the rules as well. At the end of your blog you need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog. "

so here are my 7 pieces of info on me

1. My husband, Tony, is my best friend in the whole world. We met when I was 14 and have been together ever since.


2. I love live music of any description, from seeing George Micheal and Bon Jovi last year, to the little local bands that play at my local pub.

3. I don't like mayonnaise or salad cream.

4. I can curl my tongue along it's length.

5. I have never been to London.

6. I had three children by the time I was 25.

7. I love the sound of the sea.

Now to find 7 victims, lol

I tag
Joanne
Jo
Kaz
Louise
Gillian
Sarah
Lana

Framed

Here is my contribution for this weeks Wednesday Stamper. The theme is framed and after receiving my new fantastic stamps from Art Journey I knew straight away what I was going to do. The girl is from Modern plate 1, and the swirl is my good old faithful Heidi Swapp foam stamp, stamped, embossed and cut out.

Thanks for visting.

the woodland fairy

I didn't start out to make anything today, I was just playing, I had a sheet of white card, some Dew Drop ink pads, some Whispers ink pads, of all things, and my box of unmounted stamps and this kind of materialised. I made it a hanging piece as it is almost A5 in size and would make a nice piece for a wall.

The words, which I printed directly onto the piece from the PC, don't show up too clearly in the photo as the light is bouncing off the pearl ink I used on the background, but they say:-

She possessed the power to enchant all who encountered her. Wherever she went dragonflies would gather and butterflies would dance around her hair.

I got the words off a favourite t-shirt, which I suppose was the thinking behind this whole piece, just goes to show you can get inspiration from the strangest of places, lol.

I'm bored of cards........

so when I had to make two greeting cards for friends I decided to come up with something different for them.

This first piece is a matchbook ATC holder and matching ATC that I made for Sarah. I made the holder from a length of cream card stock and stippled and stamped it to within an inch of its life, lol. I must say I was pretty pleased with the results.

EDIT for AUDREY :- the phrase stamp is by Paperartsy, Stage Lights plate4.

The second piece I made for Jo. I thought it was appropriate for her as she lives in a house called Papillon. I coloured glossy card with blue Ancient Page ink, I stamped in copper and white Dew Drop ink and then embossed around the edges. I found some small images of butterflies and the word which I added but I aged them first with the copper ink. I mounted the piece into a small copper frame, about 1'x1.5' and then applied two layers of Glossy Accents. I did think about making it into a keyring and then I thought about a pendant but I then decided to leave that decision to Jo.

I hope you both had great Birthdays girls xxx

Man Inchies

The latest inchie swap I agreed to take part in was on theme of 'Man' and this is what I came up with. I've used Colourbox chalk inks and Ancient Page. The stamps are from Paperartsy, Non Sequitar and Crafty Indviduals.

Summertime Inchies

I have taken part in an inchies swap organised by Joanne. For some strange reason I find these tiny things the most difficult thing I have ever made, and believe it or not I have just agreed to another swap, must need my head examining,lol.

on a roll

I enjoyed making the last 4x4 collage that I went and did another, this time using ink pads to make the background.

unexpected time to create

I'm off work at the moment with a stinking cold and although I don't feel too bright my creative mojo is flowing well. I have just finished this 4'x4' collage. the background is done in acrylics and overstamped in silver. The lady image is from Art-e-Zine.