Fraser in the Snow

Fraz loves the snow!!!!!  Here's 30 seconds of him having a play before we went for a walk.

Out on the field

And back in the garden after a roll!!!!!

Friendly Plastic

Thanks to the extreme weather conditions, it gave me a chance to have a play with one of my purchases from Friday.  Please don't be too harsh as I had no idea what I was doing apart from the fact that there was a lady demo-ing it at the show.  But unfortunately her expertise was very limited as she had no facilities to have any hot or cold water.  She was talking through most things, so two days later, it's hard to remember what she said and she wouldn't let anyone take any photos either!!!

As you can see I decided to try and make something with one of the above samples.  I tried to incorporate some of the items I got on Friday.  I used some hand dyed scrim, hand dyed jute, hand dyed bamboo fibres.  I peeled off a layer of one of the silk rods, added some copper shavings and a couple of skeleton leaves from my stash.  Everything is attached to a piece of green mountboard.  I did try a piece of background with a pattern but it was too busy.


Unfortunately due to the weather, I had to have the light on to take the photo and the grid looks really shiny but it is quite a matt finish.

Snow!!!

This was taken about 10.30am this morning after the first shower of snow.

This was taken about 12pm, it didn't stop for about 2 hours!!!!

I'm so pleased we went to Harrogate on Friday!!!

Knit & Stitch Show - Harrogate

Well we braved the weather and went to the Knit and Stitch show at Harrogate yesterday.  As you can see from the above goodies, we had a good day.  Have to say though, some of the things I bought I have no idea what to do with - yet!!!!

These are some of the wonderful exhibits on display.

Some incorporate materials that I have no idea how to use, so the photos are for inspiration.

Unfortunately there were lots of stalls that did not allow photography.

(above) This is a bag made from silk rods and was on the Stef Francis stand.

(below) This was one of the fab display boards on the Oliver Twist stand.

                     

These pieces were made from fused plastics and were being exhitibited in the main hall.

This is a second piece by the same person.  It has been stitched into (the word invisible at the top and the letters earth have been cut away). 

It was absolutely stunning in the flesh and it was my favourite piece.

Christmas Tags

Haven't had much time for crafting lately, but managed to make these three tags late yesterday, but had to wait until today for everything to properly dry and try to get a decent photo, but just for a change it's dull and raining!!!

The background colours were created with distress inks, old paper (left and right) and milled lavender (middle).  The december 25 is gold embossed.  The trees were stamped in a light green and then again in brown, string was added to finish.  The snowman was black embossed and coloured with purple eco-line ink.  Snowflakes where clear embossed onto the tag and also stamped in milled lavender.  The merry christmas was stamped in stazon royal purple.  The snowflakes were cut using the die in the big shot on grungeboard and coloured with purple twilight and pearl dabbers.  The trees were stamped in hydranger blue stazon.  The believe was stamped in black stazon onto purple and gold spritzed card.  The letters were diamond glazed.

The blue trees were spruced up with clear stickles.

The tag was sprayed with gold glitter spray.

Postcard Canvas

Carrying on the clay theme, I made a postcard, but I decided to mount it onto a deep 4 x 6 canvas.  I've entered a postcard swap on one of the yahoo groups I belong to, I'm just waiting to hear if this will be acceptable or not, due to the depth.  Unfortunately the colours on the photo haven't come out as it looks IRL.  They are much brighter and you can see the stamping.

This is a snippet of one of the side pieces.  I painted it with various shades of blues and purples.  I outlined the edges of the canvas with black paint to frame it.




******Edited***** The sun is shining this morning so I've been able to capture the colours better.

More Clay Pieces

As my clay atc's were so successful, I decided to make some 4 x 4's and added the clay pieces as the focal point.  I created the backgrounds in exactly the same way as the others.  Top left is mounted on a piece of mica.  Top right is a mould whereas the other three pieces have been stamped into, so it's raised.  On the bottom two I've added wire mesh, wire and gems.

*****Edited***** The sun is shining this morning so I've been able to get a better photo to show the real colours.

Book Page Atc's

Here are a set of book page atc's which I have made for a swap being held on one of the yahoo groups I am a member of.  The swap is for three and I've made an extra one for the host.  The clay pieces are stamped, baked and coloured with perfect pearls.  The top two and bottom right have been sprayed with dylusions and eco-line inks to achieve the desired colours.  Bottom left was painted with butternut eco friendly paint and then sanded back to reveal some of the text, ink was then applied.  The top two have been sprayed with gold glitter, if you look closely you can just about see it.  Wire, prestuds, gems, cogs and clock pieces were added to finish.



Tag

This tag has been created from one of the backgrounds that I'd previously made.  I used my new Lavinia stamp picked up from the Dome and stamped in black archival ink.  I added the stamped clay piece which I'd also previously prepared.  To finish I added the fibres.  Unfortunately the weather isn't up to much so I haven't been able to capture the colours properly.

Acetate Hangers

These have all been created using the spray ink and paint backgrounds that I'd previously made.  The acetate images have been painted with Silkies. The letters are die cut in black card from the red tag sale set by cuttlebug.

This hanger is done in the same way as above apart from the letters, instead I added a clay piece which I'd already prepared.  The main image is from PBS.

The Silkies have worked really well on this image, they are so bright and vibrant.



Acetate Makes

I decided to heat emboss a few images onto acetate using versamark ink and black embossing powder.  I took a used babywipe and needle felted green and pink felted wool into it.  I sewed the images onto the babywipe and sewed the babywipe onto a piece of calico which I'd previously dyed. I used the heat gun to shrink the babywipe (it wouldn't burn) and I burnt the bottom of the calico but it started to set on fire so I didn't do any more. I stamped green swirls with momento bamboo and raspberry adirondack ink.  I printed 'just good friends' onto a piece of acetate, outlined it in black pen and used a candle flame to melt it.  I sewed it onto the bottom of the calico.  I turned the fabric over at the top and sewed a line across to create a pouch to thread the wood through to create the hanger.  I put a bead at each end of the piece of wood and added a piece of co-ordinating wool to hang the piece.

This is a close up of the acetate image.  It has been coloured with Pearlescent Watercolour Paints from Once Upon a Stamp.

And this is a close up of the just good friends on the acetate. It has been computer generated and outlined with a fine black pen.

More Belated Birthday Wishes

Thanks to Sharion (LTDo) and Lynne (KCUK) for their belated birthday wishes which arrived this morning - thanks ladies, much appreciated.

This is the fab hanging I received from Carol (KCUK)

Collage Atc Set

This months atc theme on UKStampers is stamped collage.  The main images were stamped, masked off and various other images were stamped around them.  The backgrounds were then chalked leaving the faces of the main images lighter. Gold coloured square gems were added to the green one, a piece of ribbon and blue gems in the flower centres were added to the blue one and the hat of the yellow one has been covered with glossy accents.