Trying out Zetty style.

I've admired the work of Teesha Moore for a long long time and I'm a great fan of the Zetty style. This style for me means a fun, colourful and relaxed way of working where you just let go and create art without too much thinking about it.

I absolutely love this free way of working but still find it hard to totally let go and as for doodling, I really struggle with that one. Teesha Moores paintings and journal pages are crammed full of images and words but even my random crazyness has to have some structure and for me even the white spaces heve to be left bare to balance all the other stuff. My good friend Lena and I often laugh about how different we are in our way of working - I'm "less is more" and she's "more is more"!

This journal page was created in the Zetty style for the Wednesday Stampers challenge this week. I've used watercolour paints, stamps by Paperartsy and Gel a Tins and black liner pen. I've included the signature black and white border which I use alot in my work.

http://wednesdaystamper.wordpress.com/

wintery inchy!

The Inchy by Inch challenge this week is "Winter white". Ok so I know it doesn't look very white but in actual fact my first inchy was all white but photographing it so you could see it was difficult. My second inchy, the one you see here, is not as blue as it appears here (you just have to trust me on that one!) but I did start with an icy blue background which I gessoed over and then stamped and embossed with some interference embossing powder. I glued on some foam snowflakes and added a bit of pearl glue here and there. So although not striktly white it is arctic iceberg colour I think!

If you like swapping inchies then go to Inchy by Inch where there's a sign up for a christmas inchy swap.

http://inchybyinch.blogspot.com/

Tickets to the Circus?

I've just spent 24 hours straight of crafting fun, playing with my Wiesbaden purchases and making Christmas cards. Great therapy after a trying week!

Gothic Arches challenge theme is "Tickets" and one of the things I bought last weekend is a stamp from Stempelwinkel with some circus tickets on it. Coincidence or what??!!

I decided to dress up my young lady with fabrics and ribbon so she wouldn't look out of place at the show. I really had alot of fun doing this arch and I hope that shows.

www.de-stempelwinkel.nl

http://gothicarches.blogspot.com/

This week has just been one of those weeks where you're just wanting it to all end and the weekend to begin! (and it's only wednesday!) School holidays always mean I'm busier than usual but this week has just been full of little emergencies!!

Thankfully, in a surprising change to my agenda, my great friend Lena came over yesterday afternoon to rescue me with a new project to get my teeth into for Christmas. She came up with the idea of altering domino's into these gorgeous little Christmas decorations. I just think they're so cute, so thank you Lena for keeping me sane!!

Also, Wednesday Stampers challenge this week is anything Asian and as I was in the altering mood I thought I'd have a go at altering a jig saw piece. I think it turned out rather well and might just add a brooch back to it after I've given it a layer of varnish.

http://wednesdaystamper.wordpress.com/

Remember Remember the 5th of November.

Remember, remember the fifth of November,

The gunpowder, treason and plot,

I know of no reason

why the gunpowder treason

should ever be forgot.

That's the beginning of a poem to commemorate the 5th November 1605 when a chap called Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London. He was discovered and arrested before he could do the deed and since then as a reminder of that treasonable offence againsed the crown, the English light bonfires, usually with a home made "Guy" on top and let off fireworks.

Of course now, with safety being of main concern, it's more likely you'll have to go to an organised firework display rather than hold a private party in the back garden.

My daughter and husband are in England at the moment visiting the Grandparents with a friend and my husband was eager to take them to a firework display seeing as they were there at the right time. It also occurred to us that my daughter would not know who Guy Fawkes was or what the whole 5th November thing was all about, so it's time for her to be educated in one of Englands little traditions.

My firework inchy is for this weeks Inchy by Inch challenge. It's part of a new year stamp which luckily happens to include some fireworks.

http://inchybyinch.blogspot.com/

Tempting stash!!

Yesterday was one of the best days of the year (if you don't include Christmas and my birthday), in fact it was like Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one!!

It was the annual pilgrimage to Wiesbaden craft fair in Germany. Well worth the 3 hour bus drive to get there. It's simply huge. It has something for everyone from patchwork and quilting to stamping and scrapbooking. There were a few bargains to be had too but underneath it all there was an air of uncertainty as to whether all of the stallholders would be there next year. There didn't seem to be any shortage of customers though so lets hope they can hold out for another year and ride out this crisis!

I was happy to see some new stands dispite the financial situation and I learned one or two new techniques - like what to do with my old painting overall and a heat tool! (more on that one at a later date after I've tested it).

One of the most exciting discoveries is a packet of "Grafix Rub-onz". It's a packet of 4 sheets of transfer paper which you can put into your printer, draw on or stamp onto and create your own rub ons. Neat or what. I'm very excited to try this out and I'll let you know how it works.

Of course a day off from domestic chores means I have to pay somewhere along the line and today, while my stash was sitting in my workshop crying "come play, come play", I had to finish the painting in my daughters bedroom so she could get it all back in order again.

So for now everything is still in it's wrappings until I really get some time to play.

Halloween inchies.

Here are a few Halloween inchies. Again, I've used my computer and an inkjet printable acetate sheet to produce some inchy sized Halloween overlays. So simple and quick to do and convenient seeing as I didn't have any Halloween stamps in my massive collection. To stick the transparencies onto the background I had to use cunning methods such as a brad, some ribbon, staples and a pair of googly eyes to hide glue.


http://inchybyinch.blogspot.com/

Happy Halloween

This is my gothic arch this week for the theme orange and black. It didn't have to be Halloween themed but how could I resist? It is only once a year right!
http://gothicarches.ning.com/

Halloween wall hanging.

Every year Halloween seems to get bigger and bigger here. Traditionally in the past I've always bought or grown a pumpkin which I've scooped out and carved, to put a candle inside at the front door. It lasts for a few days but then the top sags and the insides go mouldy, so this year my daughters (who are a bit old for trick or treat anyway) said, why don't you just buy something Mum? Buy!! Me!! - make more like!! So that was my task, to make something Halloween-like!

My base has been embellished with a die cut frame, painted with distress crackle paint, Grungeboard hinges and skull and the bats and fence were printed onto inkjet printer acetate to use as overlays.

I've decided to enter it for this weeks Wednesday Stamper challenge.

http://wednesdaystamper.wordpress.com/

"Very risqué"

This weeks Gothic Arch challenge is entitled "risqué". Vintage nudes are not something I have a stock of in my stash so after searching the internet for free vintage images, I came across this one from http://www.art-e-zine.co.uk/

I think she's rather tasteful but I leave you to decide that!

http://gothicarches.ning.com/

An evening at the computer.

Another evening in front of the computer with itchy fingers and photoshop open!

Mini baby book.

This little book was made to celebrate a friends new baby. I thought I'd picture it on the blog before I send it off. I've recently discovered this wonderful paper which is black but when torn or sanded it shows it's core colour through.

Shrink plastic is the key!!!! Uhhhh!

For Wednesday Stampers "keys" challenge, I was sure of two things. Firstly, I had the perfect die cut from Sizzix and secondly, I wanted to make an ATC (it was quicker and I didn't have much time!). Only problem - the die cut was twice the size of the ATC!

The shrink plastic was lying on the table after using it for my earlier inchy project and calling to me , "duh - over here!". Hello!

Two minutes of cutting and shrinking later, I was painting these cute miniature keys with acrylic paints.

http://wednesdaystamper.wordpress.com/

Time.

An inchy for this weeks Inchy by Inch challenge. The theme is Time.

The background is cut from a piece of black card which was put through a Cuttlebug embossing folder then brushed over with some silver acrylic paint to give the effect of brushed metal. The clock was stamped onto shrink plastic which was small to start with, and I wasn't hopeful at all of it coming out as good as it did. I then raided my husbands bit box for the washers to go on top held in place with a screw brad.

I love the examples this week by Alison Manning, take a look. http://inchybyinch.blogspot.com/

A bit of an obsession!

When I saw the theme for this weeks Gothic Arch challenge was "Twilight", I just couldn't help myself! Ok, so you're probably thinking isn't that a bit too obvious? but seeing as I'm racing through book 4 and eagerly awaiting the movie, I've become a bit obsessed!!

http://gothicarches.ning.com/

New envelope book.

This little book has been made for a friend in Canada. It was originally made for a class I tought using business envelopes. The inserts are cork, painted with gesso.

"Double trouble".

Whilst looking through some photographs, I came across this one of my Mother-in-law and her brother. I've used the image before in my artwork as I just think it's adorable. This time I've used it to create and ATC which I'm entering for this weeks Wednesday Stamper challenge which is "double trouble".

The flower has been stamped with Versamarker and brushed over with Perfect Pearls but the picture doesn't pick that up too well.

http://wednesdaystamper.wordpress.com/

Rainy day inchy.

Rain rain and more rain - very appropriate theme on Inchy by Inch. http://inchybyinch.blogspot.com/

Quite by chance while looking for some little gems or sequins to add to my inchy, I found these tear-shaped gems.

Inventors.

Gothic Arches theme is inventors this week. I've gone for Leonardo daVinci because as well as being one of the greatest painters who ever lived, he also excelled in the fields of science, mathmatics, biology, engineering and philosophy as well as others. It could be said that he didn't actually invent anything at all as all of his designs were dismissed as being too crack pot to work but in actual fact, it's said that his designs for an ornithopter were used in the design of the modern helicopter and in october 2001 his plans for a bridge across the Golden Horn which is now in Turkey, actually came to fruition when the design was built in Norway.

http://gothicarches.ning.com/

Autumnal arch.

The theme for this weeks Gothic Arch is "Autumn". http://gothicarches.ning.com/

Whenever I go out walking at the moment and come to a pile of leaves I just have to walk through them for the crunching sound. Childish I know but I don't think I'm the only adult to admit to it!!

There's also a large conker tree nearby and the conkers are just starting to fall off the trees. I always collect huge bags full of them with the idea to create something crafty but every year they stay in the bag until the following year. They're just crying out for a crafty idea but what? Any ideas are welcome!