Fab Weekend

Warning before you start - this is a very, very, very long post!!!!! Get your coffee and settle down

Had a fab weekend at Art from the Heart in Harrogate, Dy is brilliant and there was a great crowd. It all started on Friday evening when we were faced with a wooden sledge, a huge red bauble and a small tag!!!! We spent the evening priming all the pieces and eating pizza!!!

The following day we were ready to get stuck in with the paints


Above is Chris clearing up her mess, I stepped away as she was getting more over me than she was on her sledge!!!


This is the rest of the gang beavering away

We put our sledges to one side to dry off after lots of huffs and puffs and swear words. Dy took all of us well and truely out of our comfort zone by making us paint 'properly' with a brush and then adding shading and hi-lites - not as easy as she makes it look, but great effects were achieved (eventually!!!!)

Next we moved on to our bauble. Everyone, but especially Dy, thought I was mad when I said I wanted to do a 'green' one, with a green nose and green lips. But I think he turned out fab. Quite enjoyed this activity.

Here they are, all drying in the corridor

Then we got into 'proper' crafting. Dy got out some packs which included her own design Blonde Moments christmas papers, ribbons and a flip book to decorate

This is how mine looks at the minute, it's not finished yet

Sunday morning and Dy thought it would be a good time to varnish our sledges and baubles. But there was a problem.............................

The lid wouldn't come of the varnish. But with a knife, spoon, hammer and a lot of brute force, Gill managed to get the lid off - whey-hey, well done Gill

So we proceeded to varnish and here are my finished products

The sledge with the shading and hi-lites

My 'green' snowman from the front

And the back. Even Fraser was impressed!!!

And the next activity was my favourite, because it was the messiest. Instead of painting with a brush, we used our fingers - YAY!!!!! We used Claudines paints to cover a wooden mdf tag and stamped it up. A dress and legs had been stamped onto canvas and we painted that too. Wings and a crown had been drawn onto grungeboard for us, so we painted them too!!!! We were asked to take a headshot of ourselves, but the one I took wasn't big enough, (no comments, thank you!!!), so here is my completed tag, now with a head.

Front

Back

By did she work us hard, because then we were given another pack and a mirror to decorate. By this time most of us were flagging and thinking of the horrid drive home in all that heavy rain.

This is Dy's finished mirror

and this is as far as I got with mine before I had to set off home, but I've got all the bits to finish it, so watch this space................................

One last thing, Dy showed us all how to make a rose from grunge paper

Just want to say a huge thank you to Dy for putting up with us and to everyone else for making the weekend a great experience and most of all a fun one xxxx

Edited - Monday 30 November - 6.45pm

Added some bits to my book today, going to finish it off with some christmas 2009 photos when it gets here!!!!

And this is my finished mirror with a piece of white card in the middle!!!!

Nesties and Frames Fun

This card was created using nesties

This card was created using nesties, a cuttlebug die and a crafty individuals sentiments stamp. The stamp was given to me by Alison, thanks.

This card was created using some of the negatives from the card above

Using the oval scroll nesties an aperture, an acetate piece and larger frame were created. An image was stamped onto the acetate and then images and a sentiment were stamped onto the card. The paper at the top is the same as the paper inside and has been decorated using a Martha Stewart punch

And finally a wall hanger

Embossing

Got a couple of new sizzix embossing folders from the Dome so I've been trying them out. The frame one is fab and the glittered rub ons fit perfectly inside them - thanks Maz. I have now ordered a set for myself!!!! The first layer is embossed onto black card and then rubbed over with gold brilliance ink. The second layer is green leaf coloured card with like a gold shimmer to it, again purchased at the Dome and run through the bug using another new folder. Then I sanded over the top and distressed the edges with my paper distresser. Third layer, a piece of plain black card run throught he bug using the swiss dots embossing folder and rubbed over with gold brilliance ink. Fourth layer just a piece of plain green card and finally mounted the whole lot onto a piece of plain black mount board and added a piece of green organza ribbon.

Distressed Tag

I made this tag for this weeks Lotstodo Challenge as the theme is distressed. I used my new colorbox chalk set which I picked up cheap from the Dome. Just had to ensure they all worked ok, so used them all on the background!!!! I then used broken china and walnut stain distress ink to ink up the bird image. I put rock candy crackle paste over the bird, I used it quite thick this time. Using my paper distresser I roughed up the edges then went over them with walnut stain and added fibres to finish.

Distressed Atc's

This months UKStampers theme is 'distressed'. Here are mine. I used distressed ink to create the backgrounds. Stamped the images using versamark and embossed with black soot distressed embossing powder, then added various embellishments. Using my paper distresser I distressed the edges, inked them with black soot distressed ink and mounted them onto black card.

4 x 4 Hangers

Hilda over on Lotstodo is holding a 4x4 swap on an open theme but they must have some sort of hanger, so I've been playing around with my embossing folders and my nesties again and these are what I came up with. I just used a piece of organza ribbon for the hangers. They do look much better in real life but it's hard to get a good photo with the kind of weather we've been having lately!!!

Something Different

Was having a play around with yet more Dome purchases yesterday. Was quite impressed with myself that I managed to put apetures in my cards using the nesties and they are not badly lined up either!!! Also got a plate of shimmer paint things, a bit like H2O's but another make which I can't remember. Anyway, I painted the dragonflies with these, they are very subtle colours but very glimmery. The dragonfly on the black background is done by stamping the image with versamark and then brushing mica pigment over it and brushing the excess off. Thought it turned out quite well considering!!! Will add sentiments when I decide what to use them for.

Gothic Arch - Lord Frederick Leighton

The theme on Gothic Arches this week is 'Lord Frederick Leighton'. We had to choose one of his creations, I chose 'Biondina 1879' and here she is, framed!!!! Background is brushed corduroy crackle paint swished over with black soot distressed ink.

Brave People Make Brave Things

Hilda came across this whilst blog hopping and I decided to put my name down on her list so now I have to invite 5 people to do the same on mine

So, here goes:

The first five (5) people to respond to this post will get something made by me.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations so please read carefully:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. Whatcha get is whatcha get.

2. What I create will be just for you, with love.

3. It’ll be done this year (2009).

4. I will not give you any clue what it’s going to be. It will be something made in the real world and not something cyber. It may be weird or beautiful. Or it may be monstrous and annoying. Heck, I might bake something for you and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that’s for sure!

5. I reserve the right to do something strange.

6. In return, all you need to do is post this text on your blog and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to your blog post.

7. Send your mailing address - after I contact you

Anyone fancy it??? If you do, leave me a comment and if you're one of the first 5, it will happen xxxx