love birds fabric postcard

Made another fabric postcard today in the middle of clearing the garden for tomorrows bouncy castle party for my son. This card features a little transparency of part of a painting I did a while back. The peg or clothespin!! as the US call them has the stamped word love on it. Whilst blog hopping I came across a lovely blog called A little bit of everything. It is run by a lady up in the Isle of Skye which is in the far North of Scotland. She is celebrating her 50th birthday at the end of June and wanted 50 postcards as part of a swap..she wanted a few off people she had never met before..so thought I would send her one of my recent peg cards..not going to say which one I am sending so its a nice surprise and in turn I will get one of her cards all the way from the Isle of Skye.

old peg fabric postcards...(theme thursday beauty).

Had a play with some fabric scraps today making postcards. My metal alphabet stamp set arrived today from the US so couldnt wait to have a play. I found some old broken pegs in the garden and decided to stamp on those..love the textured effect on them.. The challenge over at Theme Thursday is beauty so I think the last one qualifies!

butterfly reminder...

I am following projects in the Artistic Mother group and today I made a butterfly reminder. I have covered the butterfly shape with various papers, stamped images and wall tile adhesive! I found out that this is a great substitute for gesso as its textured, dries quickly with a heat gun and is really cheap for a big tub! The heart at the bottom has a little flower clip for me to attach various reminder words such as paint, sew or read etc. I had fun making this today in the middle of arranging my sons family birthday party for tonight. This morning some beautiful clematis appeared which I have growing naturally around my cordyline palm tree..so had to photograph them with my butterfly..(click on photo to see detail)

Till the oceans cease to flow....

We are having a mini heatwave here in Liverpool and we are making the most of it with the paddling pool out for the kids etc as it usually rains all the time. So today I thought I would do a summery beach card playing with some inks and paint. The background is some of my painted papers with dye sprayed over seahorse diecuts. I have stamped the edges with white paint and added some lovely Scrollswork stamped images. Hope the weather is beautiful where you are..

Playing around with friendly plastic..

I have always had a problem with so called "friendly" plastic as when I tried to make anything in the past it has always turned into a black gooey mess and stuck to my fingers. I visit the cool2craft live website on Mondays (see link to the right) and I won an online Fusion Illusion friendly plastic lesson with Linda Peterson. We have been having a mini heatwave here so have been playing with some friendly plastic of a night time. I made these brooches, pendants by heating the plastic in a melting pot with some greaseproof paper..the secret is not too have the pan too hot! (around 110 in the UK). I have used some foil pie dishes and the inside of a tomato puree tube to make the faux metal backgrounds..great fun and it wasnt a gooey mess this time!!

Freebird (FAMM birds challenge)

Over at Fiber Arts & Mixed Media the monthly challenge is Birds..the winner gets a new book from C&T called Little Birds which looks really good. I have wanted to have a go at making a 3d fabric bird for quite a while now. I have made this bird out of my hand dyed fabric and added a little bead for its twinkling eye. Underneath the bird are strips of fabric, beads and heart with the embroidered word "Free". I love watching all the birds that come to visit my garden and birds feature quite a lot in my work. Here is a little poem I have written called "Free"...

Free as the dark peaceful night

Free like birdsong

Free just me and you riding fast on the Triumph Bonnie

Free laughing with friends

Free from worry

Free from negativity

Free from criticism

Free to be just me

Free......

Imagine, Dream, Live...(lots to do stamped collage)

At this time of year many of us are dreaming of summer holidays. We have had a problem with our airspace in Europe as an Icelandic volcano is causing many flights to be cancelled. I think both these cards would make ideal "Bon Voyage" cards or masculine birthday cards for those working in aviation. I have added various stamped images from Scrollswork, some painted inked papers, german engineering words, wire, string and a couple of old rusty washers!

I have had a few people asking me whether Scrollswork stamps are available in the UK. I don't think they are yet but shipping from the US is very fast and reasonable

creative chaos calmed and a bbq

After: organised with fabric, paints, beads and inks in different areas

before : chaos with fabric and all my stamping supplies mixed up!

I like looking at photos of others craft spaces so thought I would show you where I create stuff. My craft space was just getting too chaotic where I couldnt find a thing and I had my inks and fabric mixed up on one table. I have only a little bit of time to create in the day and was spending most of my time looking for supplies! My sons went to a friends today so had the afternoon to sort it all out! I decided to have designated areas so now have got all my fabric and sewing stuff near my sewing machine. I love looking at all my threads so have put them in an open box. I always stand up when I do stamping so have put all my stamps and inks on top of a cupboard. Next to this are all my paints which can also be reached by my sons when they want to do painting. They have a drawer system on wheels with all their papers, paints and writing books in. The space on top of the dryer is where I have put my cuttlebug and next to it I have put my beading supplies. So am very pleased now its all tidy and I am going to try and keep it that way!!! We had lovely weather yesterday and had another bbq..wrote a poem about it as one of my "to do list" things is to write and read more poetry..

A bit of sun slight wind
Charcoal stains on fingers
Where's the matches?
Crackling pungent smoke
Burgers sausages steaks
Feeling Neanderthal
Eating together
No dinner time squabbles
Just listening to birdsong
Remembering summer camping
Sons learning to cook
Hardly any dishes
Peace

Focus Journal

I use lots of journals and I find the best ones are from Asda/Walmart for a £1. I have covered this one with a pair of old jeans with scraps of material from other projects. The hearts and bottom panel are from some canvas painting I did, the sides from some experimental machine embroidery and the fabric making up the background from some printing I have done..so dont throw your scraps away! The main photo is tranferred onto lutradur and is of the ducky pond that I often visit with my sons. I have put some sari ribbons at the edge as I just love their colours and texture. An old necklace came in handy for the front adding another dimension. Focus is my favourite word..what is yours?

busy making cards...

One of the things I needed to do was to make loads of cards. I started off about 7 yrs ago making cards and selling them but havent made any cards en masse since as I prefer fabric and mixed media. I bought a Creating Keepsakes card kit box a while ago off QVC and over the last couple of days I have managed to make 30 cards! I have stamped on a few of the cards with some lovely Scrollswork stamps. I really enjoyed making these cards today as I could just chat away with my good friends and not really concentrate creatively..as sometimes it takes me hours just to make one card! So if you ever feel like having a day off from being very arty just get a couple of card kits and have fun...

I have changed my blog background to make it easier to read ....hope you like it

Venetian Love (mixed media monday)

My son loves Dr Who and I was watching it with him last night with the episode based in Venice. I have never been to Venice but love the texture and colour of the buildings. I wanted to try and capture this type of old weathered look on this card. I have used various layers of paint and stamped images from Scrollswork. The challenge over at mixed media monday is wedded bliss and I think this lovely couple are totally in love

Arty Mum collage reminder

I am following the Artistic Mother projects and this collaged hanging is for the Artistic Vision Statement chapter. When I saw this project and the fact we had to make an artistic statement I was a bit daunted about what to write! Instead I have printed out tasks I hope to achieve in no particular order to the right. On the little tag on the left are some tasks I hope to do in the next couple of months. My husband alters guitars and guitar amps as a hobby and one amp came with a circular piece of wood that was just what I needed to make this collage hanging! So it was quite funny last night with him soldering bits of guitar and me making this hanging on our small kitchen table..sure beats romantic dinners sharing hobbies and ideas! I have covered the wood with various papers, photographs, pictures and favourite stamped images. The tags to the left are hung on an old kitchen hook so that I can change them each month. I used my new hand drill for the holes at the top and knitted some sari fibres together for the hanging. I have hung it in the corner of my craft conservatory (sun room) as a reminder of projects to do. I think the most important of these is "stop hoarding and start altering my stash" ( I bet that is what a lot of crafty types need to do..ha ha!)

Dreaming of summer journal page

Its been another rainy day here again and my youngest son has had a stomach bug so has been off school. I have been neglecting my journal so thought I would draw a warm picture with orange in it. I think the expression on her face sums her reaction to the weather hence the title! Over at the Milliande art community the theme for this month is orange so it was a good journal prompt to get me back sketching with my oil pastels. Hope the weather is nice where you live..please tell.

good friends..(wed stamper flowers challenge)

Thought I would have a play with some of my collage sheets and stamps today. One of my favourite flowers is the poppy so have used this lovely stamp from Scrollswork as the main image. My son has gone to school camp this week and this little boys face reminded me of the apprehension that was on all their faces as they boarded the coach! I have stamped the background with some numbers and I just love the Mark Twain stamped quote. I found some vintage lace at a market and as the flower is stamped on to french text I have added an eiffel tower. All stamps used are from Scrollswork and the shop now sells gift certificates.

Needlefelted landscape cards...

I was really pleased at the feedback that I got for my first large needle felted landscape (click on blue writing to view) so I decided to make some little needle felted landscapes to put on cards..they make a great instant picture to frame. I have put some in my Etsy shop..link to the right..so why not have a browse and treat yourself!