Cards

Well, I promised I'd be back to upload some pics, and here they are.

It's my niece's 21st birthday this week, and she's having a massive party. The theme for the party is Fairy Tales, and she's going as Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Naturally, I just HAD to make her a card reflecting this - though it is really hard to "do Disney" and not end up with a kid's card.

Luckily I found this lovely picture on the web, and with the addition of the backing paper in a stylish gunmetal colour, I think I've suceeded in creating a grown up card for her....



Other cards today include these two for the April Challenge on Aunty's Forum. Now I've found my mojo, there will be a lot more, though I'm not going to blog them all!

The idea for this challenge was to follow a sketch to create your cards.

Relief all round

You may have noticed that I haven't blogged much lately. Aside from the fact that DH has been up in London and I've been making hay while the sun shines, a close friend of mine has been in hospital. They're out now, but it was an unnerving experience all round. Suffice it to say that I'm gradually coming back to earth, and I'm sure when I hit it properly, it's going to hurt, but such is life.

Luckily enough I'm one of those people that tends to bounce rather than break.

A HUGE thank you to my friends who have been most supportive during this tough time. Hopefully, normal service will resume presently, though I've a feeling this may well be the calm before the storm!

I have been doing some crafting - not a lot, cos my mind hasn't really been on it, but some nonetheless. I'll be back later today to upload some more pics....

TTFN!

What kind of flower am I?

Saw this on CraftyC's blog and had to try it....

I am a Canna What Flower Are You?

Apparently "You stand up for what you believe in, even if it gets in the way of what other people think. You are proud of yourself and your accomplishments and you enjoy letting people know that."

Sounds about right!

Snow and other stuff.

Well, it's now April. My word, hasn't time flown by????

So what's new in the land of Mort?

Well, another month has come and gone on Aunty's forum. I'm going to be really dull and boring here and say that anyone who wants to see what I created for the March Challenge will just have to go onto the forum, look in the Members Gallery under Team Zone, Fi's Fab Five, and see what I put in. Apart from this one...gotta put this one here...



Why this one in particular? It's one of my favourite works of art (next to The Accolade, by Edmund Blair Leighton), and is called "Meeting on the Turret Stairs". It's by Frederick William Burton, and I just love it. DH hates it. I love it. Wonder who is going to win the battle to get a large version and hang it somewhere in the house. Not least cos it's the only one my brother and SIL DON'T already have... Anyway, back to the point. The March challenge was all about the 7 Deadly Sins, and I put this card in as "Lust".

Other news - we've had snow! Fabulous, particularly this far south! This was the sight that greeted me this morning.



So I then got arty, really testing the camera for zoom and close up...LOL





and then we walked the dogs....




As far as pictures go, I think they came out well!

What else? Well, I haven't really been up to much. DH is still up in London doing his course - only 3 weeks left now! Time definitely HAS flown.

I've not done as much as I'd like to have, been lazy really, but I suppose I ought to finish this post off with another something I've made lately. So here are two birthday cards I made a wee while ago but forgot to blog. The recipients have had them by now, so it's safe to stick them on here (and I don't think I already have. If I have, pardon me for repeating myself!)



The coloured panels are made with shrinkable paper and luna lights inks. Just squidge the inks on, heat the paper with a heat gun and watch it curl and shrink, the inks drying as you go. The paper is the sort that AmEx and other companies used to make envelopes that are untearable. Once done, the panels are fixed to cards with sticky foam pads, and then brass charms of butterflies (or similar) are fixed onto the panels. A few toning brads and Bob's your uncle....

SSCC March

It's Rudolph Day!!!!

For those of us in the SSCC that means something...

So here are my Christmas Cards for this month. Yes, I lost my 4lbs. Yes I saved what I said I would. No, I haven't sparked up. Paperwork - well, it's ok, but not brilliant.









This time I've gone for a fresh and funky modern feel.....

Till next time!!!

Whoops......

Been a bit of a while once again since I was last on here!

DH (Darling Husband to you lot) has been in London for the last three weeks, only came back for one weekend and is currently in Taunton fitting a bathroom! He's got another 5 weeks in London, doing the practical part of his NVQ in plumbing. It's frustrating for him cos he's got all the experience and knowledge - just not the piece of paper that says he can do it. Ho hum.

Mum is here for Easter...I last saw her at Christmas, so it's nice to see her and talk, even if the things I've got to talk about aren't of the best subjects. Maybe more on that another time, if I ever get around to it.

Crafting wise, I've done precious little.

Say no more........

A last gasp...

Tonight is the deadline for the February challenge on Aunty's Forum, and I've just ducked under the wire with these last two bits.

The last of my glass painting - a suncatcher...




And then two watercolour painted cards. The fairy is going to be for a friend of mine MUCH later in the year. Trouble is, the second she sees it on this blog, she's going to know it's for her, but never mind! The teddy is for her daughter....

The fairy was rubberstamped in Stazon ink, and the background, and the fairy, painted in with watercolour paint. I then stamped a frame using dye inks and various rubber stamps I have.

The teddy was rubberstamped with Versamark and heat embossed with black powder, then coloured in with watercolour paints.






Non-craft stuff to blog - Nick & I went 10 pin bowling last night and I trounced him. Neither of us are brilliant at it, but I scored 115, 117 and finally 128 in our three games, beating him each time. For me to get over 100 at all is an achievement - my highest ever score is 133, so I acquitted myself quite well, even if I do say so myself. I know, pride before a fall and all that - the important part was having fun.

Nick is off to London on Sunday night for 8 weeks - he's doing the practical part of his NVQ 6129 in plumbing. He'll be back most weekends, but it's going to be an interesting 8 weeks.....

love and light to you all!

More Glass Painting

Continuing on from yesterday's blog, here are the last couple of glass painted items I've done, this time using a Kenco coffee jar.

This one is very simple. It is basically just an outline of a medieval gargoyle (looked better sat up than lengthways!) which is then filled in, and the big bare background filled with liner spirals. Very simple, but effective nonetheless.




The second one is more complicated. I started out by outlining in black all the corners, or where the glass went off at a different angle. I also outlined a rubber stamp design of a fleur de lys, which I stamped onto the glass at the front. I then worked my way around the jar with the fill and flood technique, as before, using a different facet each time (so it took 8 days to do the paint alone). You have to work this way, otherwise gravity pulls the paint to the lowest point and you end up in a terrible mess. While it was drying, I used offcuts of friendly plastic to make an inset for the lid (to hide the word KENCO!), which was quite effective. I then went around dotting with gold, silver and copper liner, which gives a very rich effect.



My favourite pieces to work on are items I've bought from charity shops. There's such a wide variety out there of Crystal Decanters and old perfume bottles, sugar bowls, vases, and for a very cheap price too - add some glass paint and you have a unique item. I've sold a few in the past, for weddings or anniversaries, which have been customised a little (like with numbers or initials). Good fun.

So there you have it....

More painting tomorrow...

Glass paints

I've decided I might just eke out my photos and blog them gradually over the next few days. Don't want to burn out too soon, eh?

So, today we have a title of glass paints. I've been using mine a lot lately. The Christmas cards in yesterday's thread show four of the cards I've made lately - here are a couple more...





The idea is simple - get a suitable peel-off, stick it to acetate (or glass if you need something more substantial), and fill in the gaps with glass paint. I find the fill and flood technique works best - otherwise the colours get too weak. You do need to ensure that you keep your work flat until it dries, otherwise you end up with a mess when the colours run due to gravity. This can make it quite interesting if you're working on a multi-faceted object (which we'll look at tomorrow, maybe), not to mention time consuming. But it is possible to do a lot of work quite quickly when working with cards.

Once dry, the acetate is then mounted using double-sided tape. The best cards to use are double apertured ones but you can't get these in a wide variety of sized or shapes. I tend to either make my own, or alter the ones I have to suit. A single aperture card can be used and a second aperture cut so that you see the light shining through. If I only have an ordinary single-fold card, I cut the aperture, and then cut some matching paper or card for the inside to cover the DS tape.

Paints - mostly I use spirit based glass paints, but I have also got Pebeo Vitrea 160. These are paints that you bake in the oven at 160 degrees to "fix" them, and they're supposedly dishwasher safe. They're excellent - although the colours aren't always as rich, the variety is great, and they also have some fantastic "effect" glass paints, like crackle, and irridescent. I'd dig out some of my work with these, except that it's all boxed and in the attic..... no space!

Catch you tomorrow!

Let the Blogging Commence!

Well, here goes. I doubt I'm going to get everything blogged tonight, so expect lots of stuff on here for the next few days.

The thing is, you see, that lots of things I'm involved in or doing are coming to either a conclusion, or fruition, all at the same time.

First up is something for SSCC (Seasonal Storm's Christmas Club). Just to prove I HAVE been making my Christmas Cards, here are last month's....




swiftly followed by the ones I have made this month. The girls in SSCC will know that I have neatly dovetailed this month's cards into the team challenge on Aunty's Forum!




Next up are the Inchies I received for the Valentine's Inchy Swap, also on Aunty's...




Fabulous work, girls! Only 9 of us took part, though we made 10 inchies each. Mine are the two on the bottom far right.


And here are the ATCs I made for the ATC swap we did. I hope in the next day or so to photgraph the ones I've had back today...





And yes - those really are watch parts glued to the cards....

That'll do for tonight, craftwise.


The last thing I'd like to put in tonight is a picture of the tattoo I had done on the 16th February.... I'm loving it. It's at the base of my spine. Certain of my friends know exactly what its symbolism is - I don't want to sit here and explain it or try to justify why I did it. It's personal. It speaks of my own personal belief. Nuff Said.