Spring is in the Air

Hello again!
Like buses, nothing for ages then two posts at once!

I'm hoping if I say 'spring is here' enough it will make it so, but at the moment the weather still seems decidedly chilly. My spring project is live on The Craft Barn blog today.

For more details do take a look at the blog.

I hope that you have a lovely weekend ahead. Thank you for stopping by. xxx

Boxing Clever

Hello
Here in the UK we've just come through a spell of bitterly cold, snowy weather, but today there are glimmers of sunshine and a definite touch of spring in the air. My offering this weekend is a little decorated box, perfect to put a little gift or chocolates in.

For details of materials and how I did it do take a look at The Craft Barn blog. A short post today as I'm going to do my best to actually get some crafting done!

Thank you for visiting. Hope you have a lovely day xxx

Bubble Bloom

Hello  there
Nearly the weekend with a chance to relax just around the corner. Today I'm bringing a project that I've done for The Craft Barn using a Woodware stamp and alcohol inks on Yupo synthetic paper. Woodware have a range of stamps which are simple outlines of circles making flower heads and are perfect for this technique. I've applied the alcohol ink with a fine brush, cotton buds and even a pin.

I couldn't decide on a sentiment or not...what do you think?

For a few more details pop over to The Craft Barn blog or better still grab yourself a bargain from the sale!

Hang on in there, one more day until the weekend...Thanks for stopping by. xx

Dull November brings the blast

Hello again
The first Sunday of the month means it's time for the next verse of The Craft Barn's Twelve Month Challenge based around Sara Coleridge's poem The Months.

Dull November brings the blast,

Then the leaves are whirling fast.

My mini canvas is live on the blog, hopefully providing some inspiration for those joining in with the challenge.

It's amazing how quickly the year has passed by. Winter always used to be my favourite season but as I get older I enjoy each season in a different way. Important to enjoy the present though and not wish it away thinking about the future too soon.

Thank you for stopping by my blog. Hope you are having a lovely day wherever you are. xx

Animal Farm

Hello
Business and housework sorted for the weekend...time now for a bit of crafting. First of all just to let you know that my latest post for The Craft Barn is live today on the blog.

I really love these cheeky chaps from the PaperArtsy Elena Zinski range.

The cards are actually one layer apart from the paper flower. Hop over to the blog for the step-by-step tutorial and find out how to achieve this effect with masking techniques.

No time to chat...crafting awaits! Hope you have a lovely relaxing day. Thanks for stopping by xx

Drunken Chalks

Hello
Today my drunken chalks project goes live on The Craft Barn blog. It's a great technique using isopropyl alcohol / rubbing alcohol for soft blended backgrounds.

Do have a look at the other DT posts to see the great effects you get with metallic inks.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend ahead. xx

Autumn Fruits

Hello
I hope you're having the same gloriously sunny day as me. I love this time of year with the soft autumnal colours. I had a great day yesterday with Helen Chilton at The Craft Barn playing around with alcohol inks and Claybord. You can take a look at her sample on her blog.

Needless to say I bought a couple of pieces to play with, so watch this space!

Hope you are having a relaxing weekend with a bit of crafting time thrown in. xxx

Joseph's Coat

Hello
I'm a bit late posting this one. I had a busy day yesterday and spent a great evening at Chertsey Museum doing a bit of crafting with nine lovely ladies making mixed media notebook covers. They must have enjoyed it as they want to do the same technique again on something else. Didn't get to photograph them all but they made an excellent job of it.

This week The Craft Barn has been showcasing the Joseph's Coat technique using different ways of masking to reveal a layer below. I went for a canvas board.

There are quite a few steps for this one so do take a look at the blog for all of the details. The weekend awaits and I am very hopeful for at least one day of crafting! 

Thank you for stopping by. xx

Warm September brings the fruit...

Hi there
First Monday of the month and time for the next verse of Sara Coleridge's poem on the Twelve Month Challenge at The Craft Barn.

Warm September brings the fruit,

Sportsmen then begin to shoot.

I love this time of year...that is of course if the sun is shining...fingers crossed as predictions are for a warm sunny autumn.

Thanks for stopping by. Do have a look at the blog to see how other people have interpreted the verse. The variety always amazes me. xx

August brings the sheaves of corn...

Hello
The first Sunday of the month means it's time for the next verse of Sarah Coleridge's poem for The Craft Barn Twelve Month Challenge.

August brings the sheaves of corn,

Then the harvest home is borne.

I love the soft colours of late summer, although at the moment I'd just be grateful for a few dry days!

Do have a look at The Craft Barn blog to see how other people interpret the verse. I try to comment on as many as I can during the month. 

Thanks for stopping by. xx

 

Van Gogh-ish

Hi there
Thank you for popping by. My latest project for The Craft Barn is live this morning. The theme this week has been Van Gogh. I had a lot of fun with this one. I must confess though that the image I was orginally working from must have been reversed...flowers in a blue vase.

And here's my interpretation...

For all the details of the technique and materials do have a look at the blog.
 
As usual it's a quick one as I'm off to Bristol with my husband for an anniversary treat. He thinks we're going to be doing a pub crawl, I'm planning to take him around the fabulous street art and maybe even find a few Banksys...I wonder how long it will take him to notice!

Enjoy your weekend xxx

Fond Farewells

Fond farewells is the theme at The Craft Barn this week. Some how it slipped my attention that my project was published yesterday but it's not too late to take a look at the blog for details of how to make it.

It's a great stamp for layering and although I thought it was perfect for a retirement, it would equally be great for a birthday or a party invitation. I decided to stamp on acetate for a glassy feel but it would work equally well on card.

Thank you for popping by. Hope you have some lovely crafty treats lined up for the week ahead. xxx

Hot July brings cooling showers...

Hello there
It's the first Sunday of the month and time for the next verse of The Craft Barn's Twelve Month Challenge, based on Sarah Coleridge's poem The Months.

Hot July brings cooling showers,

Apricots and gillyflowers.

I really enjoyed making this one, I think because of the lovely warm colours. Of course I had to look up what a gillyflower was! I went with the old fashioned definition of a sweet scented flower, typically a pink carnation or stock.

Do pop over to the blog to see what everyone comes up with for this month. Meanwhile enjoy the summer and fingers crossed for more of the hot sun and less of the cooling showers! xxx

Kit n Kaboodle - Retro Clock

Hello there
A quickie tonight. I've had a lovely day at The Craft Barn where we were making retro clocks with Helen Chilton in the Kit n Kaboodle class. If you like mixed media with a practical application this monthly class is the one for you. I have to say that my clock wasn't particularly retro by the time I finished with it. As often happens I kept looking at it in the class but wasn't quite happy. By the time I had driven home for an hour and had a fresh look the answer was obvious...more white!

Of course I had to do a bit of shopping too so watch this space as I try out my purchases!

Thank you for stopping by. Take care xx

June brings tulips, lilies, roses...

Hi there everyone
What a lovely hot, sunny Sunday it is. Meterological summer really here in theory and in weather! The first Sunday of the month means the next verse of The Craft Barn twelve month challenge is on the blog:

June brings tulips, lilies, roses,

Fills the children's hands with posies.

 
Here's my mini canvas...

Do take a look at The Craft Barn blog and all of the other entries. I always try to comment on as many as possible, unfortnately the links don't always work for some reason.

Enjoy what's left of the weekend. Happy crafting xxx

Moroccan Lantern

I've had great fun this Bank Holiday actually doing a bit of crafting and finishing a Moroccan lantern I started on a workshop with Helen Chilton at The Craft Barn in March. If you love messy, mixed media but practical projects the monthly Kit and Kaboodle class is fantastic.

The base is a Tando Creative kit. Helen had us painting it with metallic paints and distressing it to make it look worn and rusted. I won't give away her secrets but the faux rust was really fun to do. We embossed acetate and coloured it with alcohol inks to create the 'glass' panels. The hinges were cut with the WRMK tabs punchboard. Of course I had to buy one!

Most people on the day chose to box in the top of the lantern but I already had other ideas...and so a month later I've had time to finish it off.

Firstly it all had to be assembled. Then I painted a few wooden embellishments to add some additional decoration to the sides.

Then time to decorate some bottles to fit into the recesses on the top. I used alcohol inks on miniature glass bottles and some old medicine bottles. To create more intense colours I used one colour on the inside of the bottles and two colours on the outside, plus some metallic mixative. I also dripped the copper mixative down the sides of the bottles,

I painted ribbbon to go around the top of the larger bottles, added painted embellishments and finished the tops with enamel accents.

 

I altered little silver charms with the alcohol ink and tied them on with wire and tiny labels were tied with string.

 

I had some left over paper clay flowers and butterflies from another project, so after a lick of paint I added a few of those, along with a few metallic gems.

I really love the irridescence of the alcohol inks on glass. 

 

It looks fantastic with a battery lit candle in it if I do say so myself. It is only made of cardboard so you really must not use a real candle!
 

  

 

Just have to find it a permanent home now. My husband has already asked where it's going!!!!

Materials used:

Tando Creative Moroccan lantern kit

acetate

Ranger alcohol inks

Tim Holtz grunge paper

DecoArt dazzling metallic acrylic paint

DecoArt fluid acrylics

black gesso

Ranger enamel accents

wooden, metallic, glass and gem embellishments

lace ribbon, string, wire

Quirky Bird

Hello
And now for something completely different! Joggles have a range of strangely compelling and very weird cling stamps. Their quirky bird stamps somehow capture my frantic mood, while I try to balance all the different aspects of everyday life. I've created a door hanger with the quirky bird #2 to warn anyone approaching the craft room!

For all of the details on how to make it, pop over to The Craft Barn blog where it is the project today. 

Wishing you all a few moments of calm in your day. xxx

Bunnies by Night

It's 'silhouettes' week at The Craft Barn and today my project is featured. I've used the delightful Lavinia bunnies on a mini printers tray. For full details of how to make it and to see all of the projects this week pop over to the blog.

Tomorrow sees the start of my two week holiday and this time I have actually kept a few days completely free for some craft time. I feel like a small child on Christmas Eve! Watch this space there may be a flurry of posts...

Up the Wall

Hi there
Seems like ages since I've had time to blog...or do any crafting! Easter holidays coming soon so fingers crossed for a bit of time in the craft room.

Today one of my projects is on The Craft Barn blog. There's a very rare sighting of my husband in it! Please do have a look at the blog for full details of how I made it.

The photo was taken in Ostia Antica near Rome. We had a fantastic day out a few years ago on a snowy February day. We were able to wander around the ancient town, with hardly another person in sight, just a few cats. I would highly recommend it as a day out if you're in the Rome area.

Street Art

Hi there!
It's Street Art week at The Craft Barn and today my project is up. I had real fun doing something a bit different, more masculine and a bit grungy.

You can get full details of materials and a step-by-step on how to make it on The Craft Barn blog. If you're a follower of Dave Gorman you will appreciate the happy clock!