WOYWW 183

Here we go again - Julia's blog is here if you want to snoop round a few arty crafty desks out there in blogland ...

My desk is quite a hive of activity today with a number of projects on the go ...

The Christmas altered paper bag that was mentioned last week is finished and at the back there - you can see it in more detail here.

A half finished mini album at the back on the right ... a small pile of 'intriguing' ATCs in front of the bag, but can't show these in close up yet as they're another surprise swap ... and in the front a 'picture wallet' I am making my brother for Christmas. That hould be finished before next week with the photographs in it - hopefully.

Altered Paper Bag

This is the completed altered paper bag that I mentioned in my previous post ...

I have used Kaisercraft patterned paper from the 'Tis the Season' collection, Martha Stewart edge punch, poinsettia stamps from Paperartsy and some bits of tinsel and ribbon from my stash. 

The poinsettia stamps have been curled a little and layered and sprayed with Iridescent Gold glimmer mist for a bit of sparkle. There's a couple of brads and some German scrap on there too. 

As I only have the 6" paper the back is covered with something toning I found in my stash ... the tags on the back are from the Kaisercraft collection ...

I am entering this in the Tuesday Try It On challenge 'Christmas Sparkle'.

WOYWW 182

A bit of a mess ... some clearing to do and then to decorate the paperbag lying at the front ... the one at the back is the first of these I made and is there for reference ... this one is going to be a Christmas theme ...

To the right of me this little lady is taking up far too much space and is about to be demoted to her blanket under my desk ...

If you want to know why I am exposing my desk to the world check out Julia's great blog and while you are about it check out some of the other interesting desktops.

Our Creative Corner

Another tag for Christmas ...

This one meets the requirements for Our Creative Corner challenge - Chipboard (tag is made from chipboard), Angel and Buttons.

Christmas

Here's a tag I made for the challenge set by Linda Coughlan over at The Funkie Junkie. I haven't done all of these - this is tag 10 inspired by this post ...

I am also entering this in the Take a Word challenge - the word is Angels and I'm a day late ... and Hels Sunday Stamper Vintage challenge.

Fabric ATC

Just sharing a fabric ATC I made for a swap (actually I made nine!) ...

The background is made from strips of fabric and lace woven together (sorry I couldn't get a better photo) ... I've then added a fabric 'patch' with a stamped birdcage and a die cut bird made from 3 layers of card and patterned paper on the top. The little circle embellishments are a bit like brads - they have little spikes on the back that you can poke though the fabric - I have had them years!

WOYWW 181

Resurrecting this blog again ... it's not that I'm not creating, just that I am lazy about uploading :-)) Anyway I am inspired to join in Julia's blog 'hop' today ... you will find dozens of other desks to visit here ... most of them much more interesting than mine ...

Some finished ATCs for a swap and some background paper ready for another project.

Edit 22/11/12 - sorry the ATCs are a bit blurry and a bit distant - deliberate because they are meant to be a surprise BUT they will show up on here in the future when they are swapped out :-)) and YES I do use the flat iron to straighten stuff out - it is nice and small and heavy,

More Mini Album videos ...

... for anyone who is not mini-albummed out :-)) And an update photograph of 'the puppy' - now 11 months old - at the end ...

Time ...

... where does it go? I didn't continue with uploading LSEDN pages - too personal - but there were some great prompts to get you thinking.

I have been making ATCs and mini albums - I love both ...

This ATC was made 9 times to share/swap with a group of internet friends and the theme was 'Creative Embossing' ...

The background is made from paper that has been scribbled with wax crayons, spray inked, crumpled and inked with an ink pad and then over stamped. This background has been fused to a felt background and then I have used some fabric paper (Beryl Taylors method) to make the heart and free machined this to the back ground. It is embellished with a UTEED  and pearlexed hand made button and finished with a machine stitched boreder and a coat of matte medium over this and the background.

I put my mini albums onto Youtube (I'm too lazy to take all the photographs) and if you would like to look at these just click here  for my channel ... or on the individual links below ...

LSNED Day 3

Just a picture today - the prompt was about feet and moving forward - I think I am doing all I want but not everyone I love is in the same place - I have to keep relearning that I can only be there for support - I can't make 'it' happen ...

LSNED Day 2

Today's task is to consider the 'teachers' that have influenced you throughout your life ... I loved thinking about this and chose these people ...

My Dad
My Mum
Miss Cole
Dr Claire Weekes
Dorothy Rowe
Ruth Bell
Nick and Sam

NB I don't know Dr Claire Weekes and Dorothy Rowe personally but their books have been invaluable.

These people have taught me ...

• a love of words and stories and nature
• a love of making ‘things’
• a love of biology (science)
• the value of friendliness
• how important it is to have a sense of fun
• how to stop being so anxious
• how to learn about me and those around me
• how to reflect
• how to listen
• how to get better at being true to myself
• how to ‘lighten up’
• what family and love means to me

In other words everything that is important in my life ... 

Again I'm not to happy with the finished page - although I do like the 'painty' background - but felt it needed to tie in with the first page.

Blogging or not?

I enjoy sharing what I make but am not a very active blogger these days ... since my last post I have continued 'creating' but not sharing so much. Some of this is due to laziness, other things to do etc and I have been trying to stay offline a little more than I used to! Some of the 'stuff' I have been doing is more along the art journaling lines ... scrappy, painty and a bit personal and I haven't decided whether or not to show some of those pages on here.

But in the meantime I have joined Shimelle's 'Learn Something New Each Day' online class - a little late in the day.

I 'discovered' Shimelle many years ago and love her reflective, easy style of scrapbooking/journaling. I still have the prompts/essays she wrote for a class that I took way back when - (I don't really 'do' scrapbooking, but do increasingly use photographs in journals and have developed a passion for mini albums).

I am thinking of recording the outcome on here - I'm probably going to be too lazy to do an actual physical journal page each day but might achieve a bit more blogging?

Day 1's task was to think about my 'last big adventure' ... and my first thought was studying for and getting a degree five years ago (fits well with the learning theme too). It was a first class honours and I won a prize so I did pretty well - but ... well read on.

As a by the way I have had many 'adventures' since then mostly involving new experiences, new scary opportunities, some travel, new jobs etc but the degree was the start of jumping outside my comfort zone.

But what I have really learned since then is:
1. I love being in my comfort zone
2. I don't care about money (much)
3. I value peace of mind over most other things

So ... the 'good', but extremely stressful job that I got after the degree has been abandoned; a year 'off ' just to be me has followed, and now I am looking forward to a new (part-time) job unrelated in many ways to that formal learning.

I have no regrets about the 'adventure'. I value the learning and the piece of paper that came at the end of it and I value the opportunities it has given me, and will continue to give me ... the thing that I value most though is what I have learned about me over the last few years because of it.

Finished journal 'page' is a bit weird but never mind ... it's done in a style that's not really me!

I joined an Embellishment Swap ...

... the object of which was to make 5 'embellishments' for your partner ... here's what I made ...

Metal flower made by following Lin Brown's brilliant tutorial here ...

Buttons and card made using a Marianne Creatables die (this is my smallest item but it took the longest to make). The buttons are made from 4 layers of card cut and glued together with patterned paper on the top ... i have added a bit of text stamping - Paperartsy stamp - to each one and 'vintaged' the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink. Glossy Accents is applied on the top for shine ...

This hanging embellishment is made up from layers of card coloured with Distress inks and stamped. The top 'tile' is UTEE'd and is about the size of a domino ...

These are my version of the Prima tiles that are everywhere at the moment and inspired by this talented lady ... they are 1" square wooden bases, painted, stamped (mainly with beautiful Paperartsy stamps) and coloured with distress inks. Glossy Accents finish them off ...

And finally a 'chunky' charm. I started making these after watching tutorials by Butterbee Scraps and while I can't manage her excellence in making properly round loops I do love making the charms.

I will make a video of these before they go off so if you are interested in a bit more detail check out my channel in a few days.

Thank you for reading and for all the lovely comments you leave.

Lin's Class

How the weeks fly by ...

I went to a class with lovely Lin Brown a few weeks ago ... as usual I didn't finish the project there but I have now completed it at home ... pictures below. Classes are great and the venue superb.

The book is made from 1 sheet of 12 x 12 card and uses Paperartsy Fresco paints and stamps (gorgeous sewing themed ones!) and coloured pencils ... I haven't done this type of stamping/colouring for ages and it was good to go back to it.

YPP swap

I've been working on this project most of the week ... it is a swap on Your Paper Pantry called Pocket for Your Thoughts ...

It is suggested that you construct a 5" x 7" 'pocket' from a manilla envelope and fill it with a minimum of four tags plus a small ($1) gift for the recipient ...

I didn't have any envelopes so made my pocket from kraft cardstock ... this is how it all turned out ...

My 'pocket' is stuffed with all of these ...

So in more detail ...

A size 8 tag using Oxford Impressions and Paperartsy stamps (links in sidebar) ...

An ATC with an envelope - Oxford Impressions stamps ...

Another envelope with a small tag - Oxford Impressions and Stampington stamps ...

... and the backs ...

A dress form tag - Oxford Impressions, Tim Holtz and Prima stamps ...

... the back - stamps are Tim Holtz (crown) and Character Constructions ...

A row house just because I like making these - Oxford Impressions and Paperartsy stamps ...

The back has been left pretty plain ...

An envelope - Above The Mark stamp ...

This is the other side ... and it contains ...

Three stamped pieces ... Finally I have wrapped my gift ... but what's in there is a secret ...

I made three of these - all similar - and really enjoyed it.

Paper Dresses

I've been making more paper dresses ... and finding them a bit addictive ...

Another wedding dress made mainly with doilies ... this measures about 9" top to bottom ...

And a sundress which is about 6" from top to bottom ... made with crepe paper, tissue paper and patterned paper ...

The inspiration and basic bodice template (adapted) is from Kell Belle Studio.

Workshop

Had a lovely day yesterday at The Bead Scene with Lin of Yours Artfully getting painty and inky ... we were making this ...

This is my version in progress ...

The book on the right with the pages on the left ... here are my pages in more detail ...

The stamps are fabulous and are all Paperartsy.

I think I am going to finish this up in a different way to the class example so will show it again finished at a later date (hopefully!).

Thanks Lin!

Button Tag

This project is for a swap - to make/alter 3 or 4 buttons and present on a tag. Mine has 'grown' a bit ... I really enjoyed making this ...

... it's based on these gift card tags I made a while ago. The main tag is a 6" x 4" chipboard piece covered in K & Co patterned paper with a pocket at the bottom. The tag in the pocket is 5" x 3". The buttons are layers of cardstock punched out with a 1" punch and glued together (6 layers I think), topped with script paper, holes punched, edged with Black Soot Distress and glossy accents on the top. The flowers are Tattered Florals die, the leaves a Sissix die and the butterflies are Martha Stewart punches. I made the charm which is clipped onto the side mainly from old jewelry.

The back has a place for a gift card (I have substituted an ATC for the swap) and I have used a Stampington stamp to decorate the back of the button card.

Chunky 4" x 4" book

Some time ago I showed the first three pages of a ten page chunky book I was making for a swap ... well I have finally finished all ten pages - hurrah!  (well to be honest there are a few charms still to add but they are 'in the post' and haven't arrived yet) ... I like most of the pages but one or two are not so good - I have remade several of the these pages several times but still not great so this is it ... photos below include the first 3 pages again and both fronts and backs are decorated ...

Fronts of pages 1 and 2 - titled Lovers in Paris and French Flower Girl ...

Backs of pages 1 and 2 ...

Fronts of pages 3 and 4 - titles Marie Antoinette and Mucha Lady ...

Backs of pages 3 and 4 ...

Fronts of pages 5 and 6 - titled Moulin Rouge and French Boudoir ...

Backs of pages 5 and 6 ...

Fronts of pages 7 and 8 - titled St Tropez and French Kitchen ...

Backs of pages 7 and 8 ...

Fronts of pages 9 and 10 - titled Monet and Paris Nights ...

Backs of pages 9 and 10 ...

Thank you for looking.

Jacqui