My first E bay listing

Here it is my 1st ever piece of work listed on E bay..!!! Can't believe I have done this, but I have... if it sells it sells, and if it doesn't C'est La Vie.
Clicking on the title will take you to my page on E bay.
I loved creating this piece A Mother's Dream... inspired by a mother daydreaming about her daughter's future.
It is a mixed media canvas and I love all the elements of it. I will let you know if it sells :-)The picture on the left shows the colors better.

What is this picture all about you may ask...let me tell you

China went camping last night, with her college mates. Loaded the car up and headed of to the activity center. Got there and asked where the campsite was. "Go through the center with your hazard lights on and then you will see a hill down and then up.
So I drove and came to this "hill"!!! Well let me tell you I DO NOT do roller coaster rides and when I saw this hill it put me in mind of one. I sat there looking at it, turned to China and her mates and said "girls out you get, you have got to walk it, no way can I drive that!!" China was like you are joking mum, but I think the look on my face told her I was not...
Fortunately for them (and me) another girl camping said that she would take them up to the field where they were camping - huge sigh of relief from me I can tell you!!
So off they went into the depths of the woods and I went home... China had a good night but came home and slept, guess they didn't do much sleeping.

Today I posted of some dominoes, over on Facebook their is a group called Heart Collective and there are 87 participating in a domino swap. So here are mine for you to see... they are wrapped in the organza bags - can't wait to see what dominoes I receive in return, don't you just love swaps.
Loved using my dremel for this, it has lain dormant in a box for oh such a long time!



I shall leave it there before you fall asleep, Thanks again for dropping by xxx

THIS ONE IS FOR SALLY AND GABBY

 

If you are a regular reader of my blog you may recall that I met Sally on my recent Art Weekend. Sally, Gabby and I dared each other to take a photo of our art space as we got home... I actually did mine the next day. This is where I work, I try to clear up before I start any new work and then I pull stuff out to determine what I am going to use... so this is it.
Boxes, boxes and more boxes! Bags to unpack, sides teeming and the cupboards brimming - BUT it is my little space and I love it. Stuart gets stressed if he goes in there, but like I say to him there is nothing that you need in there so don't go in and you can't stress - makes sense don't you think?
There are eggs I have painted currently on the table, wanted to get these out for Easter - don't know if I will get any to the States in time but I shall try.
So there you have it a brief post showing my room - gotta see yours now Sally and Gabby!!!

Don't forget to leave a comment on the post titled 300th Blog post to be in with a chance to win a little something... still don't know what!

300th Post

Here I am at my 300th post, I can't believe it but it is true. How time has flown...
And the wonderful Val gave me this award...

I shall put some names at the end of this posting of some fabulous blogs (although it is hard restricting to just 2,3 or whatever - so I might just add a few names)
AS THIS IS MY 300TH POST I SHALL BE HAVING A GIVEWAY...LEAVE A COMMENT FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A LITTLE SOMETHING BY ME, DON'T KNOW WHAT IT WILL BE YET BUT I WOULD LIKE TO THANK THOSE WHO TAKE THE TIME TO VISIT MY BLOG. (I shall close comments for winning next week on the 8th April
Been a while since I last posted (well for me)so what have I been up to?
Little bits of this and that really. Interupted time in the art room; the reason being is that we have some work being done outside so I have been supplying the builders with tea and coffee. In between doing the usual household chores. We are STAYING here in our home of 20 years...I am so glad about that, so the intention is to spend some money on the house and see if we can get permission to extend - time and the planning office will tell us whether that is going to happen. To my mind staying put is the best option, Stuart has now come to realise that we can do things together now and in the future with the income we have - without the worries of a mortgage. Phew!

On the creating side of things I finally decided how I was going to display the WOWs we made on PW a while ago (another indication of time flying)

I bought some paints when I was on my art weekend, Ferro paint by a company called Viva. The beauty of this paint is that it has iron filings in it and is multifunctional i.e. can be used on paper,ceramic, wood, stone even plastic. The color I used on the tic tac toe frame was Iron and it made it look like old rusty iron.
I have been busy decorating easter eggs also to get out in the post...I am using a beautiful metallic paint, but you will see when I post pictures :-)
Let me think, what else? A few dresses were made for a banner swap over on Treasure Art Trends

I embossed the top using my cuttlebug and then painted and sprayed with glimmer mists. A metal buckle, some rick rack ribbon and there you have it.

Now back to the Blog Award

MONICA
RENEE
SHARON
DEBI

I am not going to tell you anything about the ladies I have awarded... go visit and enjoy their wonderful blogs - each unique, each special in their own style and content.
Thanks for visiting, don't forget about the Giveway

LB CRAFTS / PAPER ARTSY Weekend

Gotta tell you all about my weekend... it was the BEST!!! WEEKEND EVER!!!!
Gabby and I booked up in October last year to go and do a workshop with Linda (of LB CRAFTS) and Leandra (of Paper Artsy) and this weekend the time arrived for us to go.
Oh joy and excitement, I was like a kid on Christmas morning.
I tore myself away from home (lol) and headed down the road with Gabby, didn't get far, had to return as I had left my glasses... how would I craft without them!
Anyway we hit the road, no traffic on the M25 or M1, SHOCK!!! we arrived in Olney just before 2 p.m.
What a quaint place Olney is, a lovely little village round a market square. Parked up and headed for LB Crafts. Imagine a kid in a candy store, that was me in this delightful shop full of the most wonderful goodies. What was a girl to do? Spend money that is what so I did!
We pottered around in the shop, Gabby and I and then went and had some lunch in a small brassierie in the courtyard. Fatal really as it was too close to the shop so naturally we went back in and spent some more pennies...
A little walk around the square looking in the delightful gift shops and then we headed off to our hotel.
Friday evening was a quiet affair, watching more people arrive, sharing a drink with Sally and Hazel and just chatting - a really pleasant evening.
Oh, I never said who Sally and Hazel were.
Well Sally had travelled from Toulouse in France for the event so she definitely got the prize for the person who had travelled the furthest! We hit it of so well, what an absolute star she was - we did a lot of the projects together, and made each other laugh - if you drop by to read this blog Sally - it was a pleasure to meet you.
The picture below is of myself, Gabby and Sally.

Hazel travelled from Graystoke in Cumbria, and she was another lovely lady - she tended to be working on different tables but she was fab company when we did hook up.

Had an early night as had to set the clock for an early start Saturday morning.
The shop was open before class, resisted for a time then bought a few more little bits and bobs *shush* don't tell anyone lol.
Then it was time for the introductory talk, introduced to Linda and Leandra and the other girls who would be helping, gotta give a BIG HAND to Karen, Jo and Lynne - absolutely stars all weekend, so willing to help...
Then I peed my pants or should that be Pirates of Penzance? no matter I thought I had died and gone to heaven when we were shown what we were going to make... wait till you see (but that is later in the post - so bear with me!)
We started off making crowns which we embellished with metal work, the crowns were our name tags.... wonderful idea!
Then we had to decorate a chipboard/papier mache candle with crackle paint, forget the brand name.. craco I think? anyway it crackled like you can't believe. Stamped on some acetate with Paper Artsy Castle stamps (photos to follow. Decorated a cd with alcohol inks, and made some feet for it to make a candle stand (again photos to follow).
And then we started on prepping the main project... are you dying to see what the main project was? I know you are, so without further ado I will show you, are you ready for this?..........


Can you believe it? now do you understand why I peed my pants (well nearly!) This was a plain cabinet which we painted, and glimmer misted, we made backgrounds out of paper and metal, decorated the front door with metal... what fun, what a delight to see it coming together, oh my gosh it was a delight.
And that wasn't the end of it. Oh know we made little beeswax collages, and did image transfers, oh so much - but the cabinet is not finished yet, I havet to decide what is going in to the cubby holes and assemble them, then I will share the end result with you... but don't you just LOVE IT!

We were so well looked after during the weekend, the meals at lunchtime were superb. There were plenty of coffee breaks and times to shop through out the day.
It was wonderful to meet so many lovely ladies, all there with one common purpose to have a great time.
My phone on my camera was not co-operating this weekend, kept going into video mode so I gave up on it for a time until I could figure it out, more important craftin to do... but I did manage to take this photo of Leandra and Wendy.
Wendy, who is Wendy?
Well Wendy received my altered letter rack as she was Girl of the Month on UK Art Swaps Yahoo group and she was at the weekend. It was fabulous to meet her and to hear that she really liked the piece I sent her (Thanks Wendy xxx)


I will now show you the next project we worked on during the weekend, prepare yourself for more eye candy as I present a Platter fit for a Queen...


We all used exactly the same wooden bowl as a base, painted it different colors (of our choice) and added the tiles and embossed some metal.. the results were amazing, the collage shows the effect using different paints and embossing plates



So the weekend was jam packed. There were 60 ladies attending and it was FUN! FUN! FUN!
Linda and Leandra have to do it all again next weekend and I am sure the ladies who will be attending will enjoy it as much as I did.. if you made it to the end of the post Thank you for caring enough to read this post :-)
I have condensed it (really I have, lol) but I just had to share with you my experience. My 1st workshop, but after the time I had, not my last x

More Pictures from LB Craft weekend

Here are some more pictures from the weekend...
Name badge made with metal tape

close up of crackle on candle
view of candle
Paper Artsy images stamped on to acetate. All the parts of the stamp can be used to create a bigger castle. In this case the vertical walls were added to the turrets. The metal tape wall is to be embossed and then this will wrap around candle form.

cd with alcohol inks to color; round feet put underneath to make a stand


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Working on bowls, in picture l-r Lindsays mum, Lindsay, Wendy, Me


Sally, Linda (LB Crafts) and Gabby making bowls


This is the 2nd post about the weekend.... the other shows the other items made. But before I go here are some of the cabinets made by the tutors. The pink one is a work in progress (made by one of the girls on the weekend)

St Patricks Day joy

I know I am a lucky person with the friends I have made in blogland, I know I have said it before but Hey! I am going to say it again.
You may recall a piece I did for the PW group for a St Patrick's day swap... if not, no matter one of my earlier posts has pics... but what I wanted to share with you was the piece I received... "The luck of the Irish" from Heather Corn - truly beautiful
don't you agree? Thank you Heather xxx

BUT THAT WASN'T ALL THE POSTMAN BROUGHT ME...
No siree... how lucky am I to also receive this delightful, delectable fabric collage from my friend Barb... just look at it! See the metal filigree butterflies, the buttons and lace, the layers of fabric. That delightfully impish little chappy in the centre... how cool is this..so THANK YOU Barb, I will treasure this always...





So there you have my St Patrick's day gifts... but before I finish this post I have more to share with you, the postman came today with a tiny package from Mexico City and oh my wait till you see the delights within... I cannot praise this lady highly enough, I was fortunate to meet her through doing an Online class with Joanna - but less of the chat wait till you see what I have to share with you....



So here they are my 6x4 canvases from Monica Zuniga if you haven't visited her blog, do, she has some lovely pieces to share on there which I am sure you will enjoy and a link to her etsy store... go on, take a peek!
THANK YOU Monica, I have to say that the photos on etsy didn't actually do your work justice - it is so special to hold it and see it close up, the little details are so clear - oh and until I can remedy it, the marks that you might see are off my scanner so I shall sort that out and put new pics up when I can - I just had to share with you)

I have to say to all the ladies, Barb, Heather and Monica that my neighbours have all seen your beautiful pieces, and they are all in agreement that I know some very talented people xxx

Thanks for dropping by

Backgrounds Anyone?

 
 
 
 


Thought I would share these in case anyone wants to use them in backgrounds, I know how creative bloggers are...
Enjoy!

MOSS

So the 2nd collage sheet and Poem was received, and so I set to work. (For those of you who might be new to my blog - this is a challenge over on Paper Whimsy )
Every fortnight we get to download a poem and collage sheets with elements on it, 5 x 5 sized background. We then have to make a collage ourselves and share it with the group. The only stipulation if you request the collage sheet is that you have to submit your piece and use another Paper Whimsy image... There are beautiful images on Paper Whimsy, if you haven't visited then you really don't know what you are missing - and hey you can get sheets to download straight to your printer now so don't have to wait for the postman!
****************************************************************
I have used all the collage elements as required and the little girl is my choice for this Quote.
I changed the bird from a Green bird to a robin to add a splash of color to the spread. As it was called moss I bought some moss from a modelling shop to add a bit of texture in keeping with the poem...

Read the poem, it is so delightful - how could you fail to not "feel" this poem...

This book will be so gorgeous when it is filled with qoutes... I am looking forward to the next quote already!!!

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"MOSS" by Hilda Conkling

Green velvet to look upon.
Shaped and woven of tiny trees
Soft velvet to make a pillow for the birds
Or flowers when they go to sleep,
Velvet rugs for the footsteps of the wind
(Though he leaves no footprints behind him.)
I too have felt that softness:
I have heard the wind pass and return
And stoop down to whisper
Among the trees of the moss-forest.



As Always a big THANK YOU for dropping by, knowing that you do makes me continue with my blog :-)

Ta Da...my 1st Canvas -

Here it is, my 1st canvas after doing Joanna's online workshop...
I have looked at it since uploading the photos and this has allowed me to see the "space" so tomorrow I will add some more roses. I think it is good to take photos for just that reason, it allows me time to evaluate.
I enjoyed this process, had a few hic-cups but prevailed and got a result...I recommend this class if you wish to learn about creating backgrounds, link on previous post.

I will probably edit this post tomorrow so I am going to sign off for now...correction, I will edit tomorrow once I have taken a clearer photo without the flash.

***************************EDIT*******************************



As I said at the end of my blog yesterday I would upload a new photo of my piece. Having had a chance to see it hanging I felt it needed "something more" to finish it - and so I added the roses in the top corners. Happier with it now....

Introducing....

I have met some wonderful people on blogland, started wonderful friendships and discovered awesome talents.
I recently started doing online classes... I have signed up to do A digital brush class on Creative Workshops(a ning group) and while there signed up for a Visual Journalling class with Pam Carricker. Fantastic classes; I have to say the digital workshop I have not done much with at this point in time - I need to be able to give it my full attention and family life has meant that I have not felt able to just concentrate on that. But the Visual Journalling I have done a few spreads for and intend to continue with that.
As part of the Creative workshop I also signed up to do an online class by Joanna Pierotti, I have longed admired her canvasses - to the point where I bought one just to study it in detail. Couldn't figure out how she did it BUT... now she is sharing her secrets with online classes. I have watched the videos, they are superb quality, and can't wait for tomorrow to come so that I can get started... (family at work, school etc. so peace and quiet for me)
Now on the Creative Workshop group there is the chance to make Art Dolls, I am not doing this as I have to much else that I am concentrating on, and wanting to improve on that this would be stretching myself to far.
That is not to say that I haven't enjoyed looking at the dolls created by the girls so far, they are fabulous.
Joining workshops introduces you to new people, well I was delighted to "meet" a new artist (to me anyway...)MONICA ZUNIGA
I clicked on the link to her blog and well, I fell in love! No really I did.. Monica's artwork, well it touched me profoundly and so I wanted to introduce her to you, so click on her name - you won't be disappointed believe me.
I visited her etsy shop (link is on her blog) and just had to purchase to over her mini canvases, I could have ordered the large 12x12 "Contemplation" but held back as we are house hunting.... anyway ignore me and go check it out.

That's it for today, no art to post as I have been house hunting this weekend (I love it, looking around homes) seen some beautiful houses but they just fell short of what we wanted for one reason or another... the search continues!

Bye for now,

Do you want to swap...

...this is the question I was asked over on Facebook by Dawn Marie - I agreed and we said we would do it for about mid April.
Well I have had this frame hanging in my art room for well over a year and today it just said to me.... "use me, make something of me" so I picked it up and created this Birds Nest piece.

The frame has a mesh body. I stuck the music sheet behind it, after all what is a bird without music. I decorated the eggs with Tim Holtz acrylic dabber paint, color Juniper and stamped with a Paper Artsy mini stamp, using Tea Dye Distress Ink.
The eggs and the frame were purchased from Paper Whimsy and have been as I said a part of my stash for so long... you know how it is, you see it, you buy it and then you can't use it cos it is "good stuff". I have decided now is the time to use my "good stuff"
All the wonderful encouragement I have had recently has really got me thinking "hey I am not that bad, I can make art..." what a fabulous feeling and it is all THANKS to wonderful friends I have made here in blogland and on various art groups.
Anyway back to the Birds Nest... the rusted bells were given to me by my friend Lorraine... Thanks Lorraine - I used them!
The rusty bird was bought from Retro Cafe Art and the lace was from some I bought in Spain.
The words were made using the typewriter font to use with the cuttlebug
Now all I have to do is put together some bits and pieces and send it of to her...

Thanks for dropping by, hugs...

Wooden ATC block - Garden

Thanks for dropping by, thought I would share the second ATC Block I have made. Loved the words which are from a poem called "The Sensitive Plant Part 1" by Percy Bysshe Shelley.
The poem in it's entirety is absolutely beautiful, as is part 2.
I used the delightful Paper Whimsy some Paper Artsy stamps. Some garden bits and bobs from a local craft shop that I have had for ages. Glimmer mists, although you can't see them in the picture.
I feel happy today after my misgivings of yesterday - will be back on later to post some more, in the meantime Thanks again...

St Patricks and ATC Blocks

I had a totally unreal morning today... I went to the post office and posted off this St Patricks collage for my PW swap partner - Christy Laudrig. Got home, reading the PW posts and looking at the other girlies collages and had the most awful panic attack.
It was so bad I was wishing I could run back to the post office and get the collage back to start over again.
Talk about a gibbering wreck, hot and cold sweats, heavy breathing, feelings of inadequacy - unbelievable...never felt so vunerable and crappy...! oh well it has gone and had feedback and not as bad as I perceive it to be - I hope that feeling NEVER comes back!


Then I thought, hey you know what if you fell of a horse you would get right back on it, so I decided blow it, lets get on and do the ATC block for the Swap being run by Sarah... this is a fabulous idea and I totally love the dimensions you can get with working on a block...



SO HERE IS THE BACK VIEW
RIGHT SIDE VIEW

LEFT SIDE VIEW
FRONT VIEW
And on the top a cotton reel