Poetry tote finished...

As part of the Artistic Mothers group I am up to the poetry tote workshop in the book. I started off just printing off a cover of my poetry journal then surrounding it with squares of my hand dyed fabric..but it just didnt look like mine!! So added loads of layers and free stitching and now very happy with it. I like the words at the top Find Inner Peace as I think poetry is often about finding this within ourselves..having a bit of quiet time to read or write it. For the back of the bag I just wanted to show off the lovely colours of my hand dyed fabric - so just added a little sewn patch which I sewed the word poems onto over a free machined heart shape. I just drew the heart on with my kids chalk and stiched over it..quite liked the texture so have left it on for now!

grungy flower card (wed stamper tim holtz)

I decided to make a flower card today as its been such a lovely day to spend in the garden. I have used various distress ink pads to create the background by spraying it with water. The flower is stamped "watercolour style" which I saw on the Tim Holtz DVD by spraying the stamp with a tiny bit of water then adding inks and stamping. Have added various swirls to the background and finished it off with some die cut swirls. All stamps used available from The Artistic Stamper. This is my last official Artistic stamper piece as my term on the DT comes to an end this week,

Oriental blessings..(sunday postcard oriental & Leahs monthly fabric postcard challenges)

Manasged to get to the craft show again today and picked up some lovely hand dyed threads, some tapestry kits. pandora beads for my bracelet and several promarkers. The show is in its third year now and didnt have as much stitching as previous years but there was still some marvellous art to see. My favourite was a huge buddha face quilt made up of really small squares all stitched and lined up perfectly.

For this fabric postcard I have transferred a lovely oriental photo stamp called Yumi from Scrollswork onto some fabric along with the words "blessings great, blessings small, friendship is the best of all" onto organza. The flowers are some of my hand painted fabric cut out and free stitched. The theme at Sunday Postcard is oriental and Leah's monthly fabric postcard challenge is how does your garden grow..so fits them both I think.

I found a really funny poem about housework by Jack Prelutsky called "Dainty Dotty Dee"..here is the last verse..

Dottie scours the locks and keyholes,

and she soaps the bathroom scale,

she launders every light bulb,

she bathes the morning mail,

but her oddest habit ever

(and of this there's little doubt)

is washing all the garbage

before she throws it out.

Rust, Stitch, Pirates & Worry....

Today have spent most of the day watching the kids play pirates with an old rusty box my husband found in the garage. I have started doing a maia bird cross stitch kit as I find cross stitch relaxing and a nice change. Yesterday I went to a craft show intending to have a great time but then my son got sick. He is fine now as my husband picked him up from school but we still worry dont we unless we are at home with them. Here is a poem I wrote about yesterday which you may relate to...

Worried Mum

I'm at a craft show then.....

One missed call

School

He is ok now

He has been sick

Worry Guilt

I should be at home

Waiting for the phone to ring.

Looking at all the stalls

Inspiration anew

Cant absorb ideas

Worry

He's sleeping

Now he's OK

Playing pirates in pyjamas

I'll save the worry for another day.....

Arty Girl birthday cards

I made some birthday cards last night using those background papers I made for the Artistic Mother group again...they are really coming in handy. I have stamped over them some more with these delightful birds. The little collaged square has a range of stamps from sequin waste to images of Da Vinci's Armenia and features a delightful little girl photo stamp called Sally...isnt she a cute arty girl just like me..ha ha! All stamps available from Scrollswork stamps..click on coloured writing to take you there.

I was reading some of my poems to my husband last night and in his typical Northern comedy style he decided to invent one too...so read on for a laugh!

How green is my greenhouse?

How green is my greenhouse?

Green green green green green green green

Not very

Its brown brown brown brown brown brown

Brown earth and brown plants!

I went to the cinema this morning and saw a marvellous film called The Blind Side..recommend it if you want a good cry and a laugh..really heartwarming film.

garden clipboard (mixed media monday look what I found)

I found an old battered clipboard when tidying up this morning so decided to alter it. I need a "to do list" clipboard in my greenhouse as a reminder. The background papers are some I made for the Artistic Mother first workshop. I have covered these with a frame from my friend Linda and a great pic of the sun originally from a stampington magazine. I love birds so have added some of them too. I have stamped these lovely botanical flowers onto tissue paper so you can still see the background papers through them and have coated the lot with a thin layer of wax to give it a nice texture. All stamps from the Artistic Stamper. The words read "Kindness is more important than strength" a quote from Aesops Fables which is one of my sons favourite books.

I have really started to enjoy reading poetry again and so have my sons. Here is another poem that I have written influenced by my youngest son helping me in the greenhouse.

Bought a greenhouse for £25

Potting bench too

Excitement all around

Quickly put up

Full of 1000 plans

Then it started to rain...

Sunshine Spring is here

Lets get busy

Little dirty fingers

Pushing seeds in

Water all over the floor

Look Mum they're growing

Can we eat them in the morning

Smiles Fun Learning Sharing

Remembering ...

I'm turning into my Dad!

Morning..first attempts at poetry!!

Blackbird song
Mersey seagulls flying
Factory soft lull
Pigeons robin warm sun
Grapefruit sharp
Coffee awakening
Peace stillness so quiet
Far off cry of a baby
Nicotine drifts over the fence
Mum mum mum
Awake
Start of day..

I havent done any poetry since college but thought I would have a go so wrote this poem this morning. The photo is of the cover of one of my journals for sale in my Etsy

Free Expression As Revolution..poetry journal

The 2nd workshop in the Arty Mum book is to make a poetry journal so I made this last night using some of the background papers from the first workshop. I found this lovely photo of my first 2 sons sitting in the garden of daffodils at the back of William Wordsworth's cottage in the Lake District so I thought what could be more fitting for a poetry journal than a reminder of one of England's finest poets. I had to include my youngest son too and also a little photo of me and one of my husband..(forgive the prima flowers on my sons faces but I dont like posting their faces on the Net)...but you can still see the rest of the journal this way. The words on the front read Love is what makes you smile when you are tired which is quite idealistic really as when I am tired I am a bit bad tempered even though I love my family to bits!! I think a lot of modern poetry is contained in the lyrics of todays songs. My favourite lyrics belong to the song FEAR by Ian Brown (click on the coloured writing to take you to the song which was dedicated to a mother by her son). The song has some of my favourite lines such as Forget Everything And Remember, For Everyman A Religion, Final Execution And Resurrection, Free Expression As Revolution and is also about conquering one's own fear in life....surely a way to further creative expression.

Cheshire Ice Cream Farm day....

Decided to visit the Cheshire ice cream farm today and was amazed at the way it had changed. I remember going there about
6yrs ago and then it was just a small milking parlour with home made ice cream..today it is huge but still very affordable. We had some fantastic home made ice cream...I had mocha coffee and my sons strawberries and cream. There is a great indoor and outdoor play area, farm animals to see and lovely views of Cheshire along the duck pond..recommend it. I would love to live in Cheshire as its such a beautiful place but perhaps not in harsh winter when access could be a bit difficult. We didnt see any pheasants in the road today but a hare instead...we are taking my parents tomorrow as we had such a great time. I would love to know what your fav place is to visit..please tell.

The Artistic Mother or as I like to call it the Arty Mum book!

I bought this book the other day as I was feeling fed up so you have to treat yourself dont you!! I like the way the book is written with its clear chapters and 12 workshops to follow ( and its not one of those books where a mum is talking about her perfect kids, studio, life...like you sometimes get in scrapbooking books.) My sons, friend and I had a great time messing round with paint & stamps today getting messy and we made a stack of papers. The next workshop in the book involves reading poetry which is something I havent really done since college.

To join in with the Artistic Mothers group organised by Trudy Callan click the blue writing or click the badge to the right.

blue for you..(sunday stampers silver)

Wanted to try some subtle stamping on this one in a range of blue colours with a hint of silver. I have used blue painted and burnt lutradur with a photo transfer of the cheshire countryside altered previously with Picasa. I have stamped some floral stamps and blue birds in blue. The words stamped at the top read Nature is art, creativity is Nature...all from the Artistic Stamper. I have used some silver paint on the hearts and edged it with silver pen. The challenge over at Sunday Stampers is silver this week.....

cheshire crows at daybreak (three muses blackbirds challenge)

This little wall hanging features painted and burnt ultra sheer lutradur layered over fabric. I have used transfer paper to add image to the lutradur then added the stamped birds and the words .."the voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes" by Proust. I have attached some wire to the top to hang it on the wall. I took this photo of cheshire last week which was right by the candle making workshops so its a nice way to remember a lovely day. The challenge over at 3 muses is blackbirds so crows are black!

If you click on the photo then you can see all the layers and texture a bit better

If only I had wings..(FAMM Nature challenge)

I have been playing round with ultra sheer lutradur lately and this piece uses painted lutradur burnt with a fabric master tool. I have layered the lutradur over various fabrics and added some purple pansies from my garden. The stamped images are from Scrollswork and have stamped them on tissue paper. The challenge over at Fiber Arts Mixed Media is to use elements from nature.

Lovely Lutradur and arty mum book

Its a beautiful day today and the sun is shining at last so am reading the Artistic Mother by Shona Cole which arrived today..hoping to do some of the workshops that are featured in it soon. Here are some photos of ultra sheer lutradur which is from C&T that I painted with lumiere paints last night whilst listening to my fav show on Radio Merseyside! I have transferred some photos onto the lutradur using transfer paper which is a technique that worked really well and which I havent done before. Hoping to make these into little art quilts or something so watch this space..off to do some more washing now to hang on the line to make the most of the sun!

Have decided to change my blog layout again and add a little peaceful bell tinkling..comments welcome!

a day out in Cheshire

I love driving to Cheshire which is only about an hour away on my fav road the A49 trying to avoid the pheasants running in the road. Today we went to the cheshire candle workshops which is in a lovely part of cheshire called Higher Buwardsley and when they say higher! I am just glad the van got up and down the hills in low gear. I would highly recommend it as its a great day out and is relatively cheap especially if you have 3 children to pay for..my sons loved dipping the candles, making badges, spoon puppets, coasters and fridge magnets and most of the activities only cost £1. We have put their finished candles in a little pot and it makes a great outdoor light on my new bistro table.

collage art child (sunday stampers lace)

I wanted to combine this child image with some lace but in a dark almost gothic fashion. I have used distress inks and a tim holtz mask for the background then stamped some lace patterns. The child image is coloured in and I have added another stamped lace panel and a clock to finish it off. The stars are punched from the paper that I was leaning on so have a lace pattern too. The challenge over at sunday stampers is lace.

We had the first day of the holidays today so I took all my sons on a bike ride to the local duck pond where we met up with some friends and had a great time just playing around pretending to fish with old sticks..good old fashioned childhood fun! and we saw a new wooden fish sculpture while we were there too...

Easter Blessings (mixed media monday eggs)

Happy Easter everyone hope you are enjoying all the chocolate! Had a bit of time this morning after being the mad easter bunny/mum hiding all the easter eggs in the garden for my sons to find!!

For this card I have used an ornate Madonna and Child stamp from Scrollswork to stamp on acetate to mimic a stained glass window (this is hard to photograph hence the angle of the card). I have then surrounded this with a distressed foil frame which I have coloured with alcohol inks and paint. The blessings quote and little eggs are also from scrollswork.

Crows at Sunset

I went to the felting art group today and did this needle felted landscape. I wanted to do brighter colours on this landscape (than the last one I did click here) and a warmer sunset sky. As I love crows and ravens which always remind me of Wales I added them too sitting on a heather rocky wall or flying into the sunset over the sheep below.

I just had to take a photo of Kath making her huge wet felted scarf..this is going to shrink to half the size .....cant wait to see the end result as the textures on it are superb

I bought these lovely Easter flowers yesterday as I love the eggs in the nest which I can always use in a mixed media piece!! Have a good Easter and pig out on chocolates after all its only once a year!

Windows of the soul (one powerful hour alter ego)

Had some time yesterday to do this sketch in oil pastels. I have always wanted to have long curly hair but my hair although curly has never grown past my shoulders. I wanted to practise drawing the hair as I was finding it difficult to draw..this looks a lot better with all the shading in it. I think she looks very Parisian so she is my alter ego with her beautiful hair leading a bohemian life with her purple hat drinking coffee and leading an arty but rich life! what is your alter ego? I am up early today so as I get time before all my kids wake up..busy next 2 weeks with them all being off school so please send positive vibes for lovely weather so they can all play out!! Check out the other alter egos at the one powerful hour challenge...

Follow your dreams they hold your future..

I am extremely pleased to have been chosen for the Scrollswork Design Team. This is a new stamp company that used to be owned by Inka and which sells really good quality detailed stamps at a very reasonable price..they ship really quickly to the UK too. They also have lots of challenges where they give free stamps away to the winner! Be sure to check out the other 5 members of the Design Team here.

To celebrate being chosen for the Design team I have made this card in my usual collagey layered style. Isnt Erica - the little girl stamp beautiful..although it is one of the photo stamps it is really easy to stamp with and I have used ranger archival to get this clear image. I love birds and this stamp reminds me of the birds who visit my garden. The little quote reads "follow your dreams they hold your future" and is one of many quote word stamps that scrollswork sell. All stamps are from Scrollswork.