Its been ages and ages since I wrote a blog post. That's probably down to me getting the diagnosis everyone dreads. My grandson was diagnosed with cancer shortly before I was but he had his operation not long afterwards and so far he is recovering well. I am on treatment to shrink my tumour and it may be early 2013 before I get my operation. Its a long and depressing wait. I hate it, I hate it with a passion. Its a parasitic squatter and has no right to make its home in me. Can't wait to get it evicted. That rant over, lets get down to craft and creativity.

I was lucky to get two orders last week. They came out of the blue and an offer of stand space to fill with my cards in a local party shop. I had some note cards in my stash so I bundled three at a time and wrapped them in raffia ribbon with a little tag. I had some singles left over too and they all went onto my new stand. I'm delighted to say the least and I'm planning on making lots more cards to fill up the stand.

The two orders I got were for a new pet grooming business being launched and a pearl wedding invitation. I felt a bit rusty but gave it a go and came up with these.

I used a scalloped card blank and added freebie backing paper edged with line peel offs, A doggy image I've had for so long I can't remember where I got it from and added line peel offs to the inside border. I think that worked quite effectively ! The sentiments are Anita's die cut messages and tags from The Range and I finished off with some peel off scrolls. I included an insert with an apt message but can't remember what it was now...oh dear!

This one was for a pearl wedding anniversary. I knew nothing about the couple other than their names. I just hope they like the card. 
I made an A5 blank card out of Stardream from Joanna Sheen and trimmed the front by about 5 cms so that the pattern on the inside of the card could be seen and to make it just a little bit different.

The image is a photo I took in my own garden and cropped to show a perfect rose. I personalised it digitally and gave it an embossed frame. I think this works well as there is no need for matting....saving on card there! The ribbon effect which is down the centre of the card is freebie backing paper which I tore to make a strip. The tear showed its white core edge but I didn't like it so coloured the edges with pastel and I think it works better. I finished the front off with pearl hearts and a sentiment.



This is the inside of the card. I printed off a much lighter and magnified version of the rose image and typed in a verse from i-magination. Trimmed it to fit the same width as the card front and added a strip of the same backing paper as on the front of the card and a border of gold hearts on an ivory background. I then finished off with a big thirty peel off.

 

I left them at the shop for my customer to pick up so haven't had feedback directly but I'm told my customer was pleased. I'm going to get my tea now as all this blogging has made me hungry :)

Mixed media collage

I just couldn't let another day go by without doing something creative so I shut my eyes to household chores that I had no will to do anyway and focused instead on my box of pressed flowers and leaves. 
Hiding myself away in my craft room and listening to classic fm made the perfect environment  for artistic play. 


I had a rough idea of what I wanted to do. I have sheets of handmade papers collected over the years (I had a passion for papers at one time) and so I unrolled them all and marvelled again at their diversity then selected some sloshy handmade lokta paper in greens and browns and some white mulberry paper to layer on top.


I spray glued the layers down onto a 10 x 8" matting board to create a background and then opened up my box of pressed botanical treasure. Layer upon layer of pressed flowers and leaves collected over the years and stored in a cardboard box with silicon packets to keep them dry. Normally I would take great pain to select specific flowers and leaves, going through every layer in the box before being content with my palette. This time I broke with tradition and chose from just the first few layers, otherwise it would have taken me all day. All the plant material is from my own garden except the yellow petals which were kindly sent to me from Italy by fellow pressed flower artist Sylvia Barsotti.


Arranging the flowers and leaves onto the collage was quite easy but gluing them down was a bit tricky at times. Finally it was finished and I am happy with it, especially the sky effect produced by white mulberry paper on sloshy lokta. 


After scanning the original I searched for a suitable verse to layer on top of the scanned image and decided on the Serenity prayer. The image is now printed off and waiting to be framed and the original will go into storage. I decided to print off more images at 5 x 7" for card making. These images have no verse but can have a verse or a greeting added as an embellishment like the one shown here.

The scan could be better but its a good indication of how an image can be used in different ways. I will probably play around with it digitally, creating different effects over the coming days. It will be fun!


Hope you like :)

A quick blog

My first blog for ages and all my New Year resolutions are in a failure heap. The reasons are beyond my control so I won't beat myself up about it. I did manage to do some baking this week which I suppose is creative although not in my usual way.

 I followed recipes from a children's cook book I bought at Aldi for £1.99. It has wipe clean pages too, which I think is a brilliant idea and the recipes are so simple, even I can follow them.
The cup cakes were for the members at the Day Centre. I make a dozen each week to help with funds.

These mini cheese and bacon quiches were so delicious I had to get a photo taken quickly before they were all gobbled up. I used Aldi's Greenvale 'Perfect for Baking' for the pastry. It really is very good!







All going well, I will do more baking tomorrow for family. I need to try some gluten free baking, possibly with polenta, which I haven't tried before and ground almonds. Wish me luck :)

The Dream - true story

October 13, 2007


Opening the door into the dark evening I saw an amiable, well mannered young man with a child and another person. They were looking for the hospital. I pointed in the general direction of distant lights some way ahead but not too far to walk. I happily told them there would be signposts once they got over there.


The evening was black but the woodland trees and shrubs, glossy with sticky rain were reflected in moonlight and a bubbling brook stumbled its way across my view.


Seconds after closing the door it threw open again and Mam almost fell inside. She was breathless as if in a hurry and the sticky rain had coated her hair. Much younger than when we last met, her hair now dark in little damp tendrils. She said “Sorry, I have missed two days but I’ve been depressed”. I told her I had been depressed too, at which our eyes met and I saw her questioning gaze. I sensed the quest for life in her, the yearning search for truth, the excitement and joy of living, the urgency to get things done. The momentary comma in our dialogue.


“I need a book from the library about 16th Century Church of England,” she gasped. It was a strange request and out of the blue but I didn’t dwell on it and instead, struggled to remember opening times at the library. I looked at my watch. It was 7.45pm and I looked out into the darkness again, at the distant lights where the library and hospital were. I looked more closely at the brook now and saw that it had swollen, growing wilder and louder with the sound of thrashing water. Moonlit-cast reflections danced in riotous play and I saw in silhouette, the rocky stepping-stones I needed to cross if I was to get to the library. Was it safe? I took in the nocturnal landscape, noting the culvert into which the rushing water vanished and then the phone rang.          


I woke up.


I’m so glad Mam came to visit, even if in my dreams… but I do wish the phone hadn’t rang… Love you Mam, always will and miss you.

Pressed leaves and pastel

I finally made the effort to get active in the colour enhancement class run by WWPFG. I chose some very uninteresting leaves that had turned a muddy brown and enhanced them with ground pastels, red, green and orange to give them a makeover. Grinding the pastels got me sooooo messy but it was fun!
I then decide to use them in a picture. I used mount board to colour on, using red and yellow pastels for the sun and orange and brown pastels to suggest landscape lines. I then glued my pressed leaves along the landscape line and an extra one off the beaten track.
A rummage through my stash of frames found just the right one for the picture and I'm thrilled to bits with the finished piece. My daughter came to visit, saw it and wanted it straight away! She even offered to buy it but she doesn't know yet, ahah, she will be getting it for her birthday next month.

I have also submitted my picture to PanPastel UK Challenge Blog. They have a lovely set of pan pastels for blog candy this challenge.

I'd love to hear what people think about it so if you could check a reaction or leave a comment I will be a happy bunny :) Thank you!

Oriental Meets Peeloffs

Its two weeks into January and I have finally got creative and made my first card for 2012. It seems to be the season for de-stashing so nearly everything I have used has been hiding in my craft stash for years.

It was fun to use my Crafters Companion Ultimate Pro for the first time and use it to score a gatefold card and cut background papers to fit. It is so simple having one tool to do it all...well nearly all, lol. The colours are not too clear on here but the base card is a sort of very pale pinky peach I've had for ages and the backing paper with tiny hearts is of a darker shade and is from Dovecrafts Princess Fairy Tale decoupage and paper pad.

The insert panel on each gate is a dusky brown card from my scrap box with gold peeloffs added. This peeloff is a Chrysanthemum and the one below is a Chinese or Japanese message (sorry don't know which) but I got them from Joanna Sheen, again, ages ago.

I decorated the inside with three panels of backing paper, which was a Dover sample in bygone days and added a Happy Birthday message to the centre panel using the same tiny heart backing paper as on the front gates. I used outline peeloffs around each panel and insert to make it all look more effective and finished it off with gold tassel handles on the gates.

Considering I'm not a fan of peeloffs or oriental themes, I think it came out quite well! I'm happy with it, says she smiling.

Thanks for looking. Comments are always welcome.

New Year 2012

Its the first day of 2012 and I want to wish all my family, friends and followers a very happy new year. 


Its a while since I posted but hopefully I will add to my blog more this year.


To begin with I have been blog hopping and deciding which challenges to follow. I hope to contribute to Bah Humbug, ABC Christmas Challenge and the Joanna Sheen Challenge Blog. That should keep me busy and as if thats not enough I have signed up for a class in pressed flower colour enhancement with the WWPFG. 


I have lots of 'vintage' pressed flowers and leaves that could do with a make over and the idea of adding colour to a 'vintage look' new collection of pressed flower pictures inspires me. I have used colour enhancement before but am keen to brush up on new techniques and ideas.


Later in the year I hope to add a page to this blog which will be a gallery of my pressed flower artwork with an opportunity to purchase on-line. I'm feeling very positive about 2012 and looking back on 2011 there was much to celebrate. Its far better to build on the positive than dwell on sadder moments, which beset us all occasionally.


My opening picture is one I did several years ago and is entitled Four Seasons Goddess. It is made up of pressed flowers and leaves depicting all the seasons and arranged around an iconic face that is my own artwork. I poured enormous therapeutic energy into creating this picture and I hope you agree that it evokes a lot of strength and energy.


Comments kindly welcomed as always.