Donna's baby!

There is a story behind this....last October we had a WOYWW meetup and I met Donna.  Now, this lady is hugely talented (as were most of the lovely ladies I met there) and somehow she convinced me to jump out of my comfort zone and try mail art...naked original art trusted to the great institution that is the Royal Mail....I jumped in and loved it (thanks for the push Donna).

Well, Donna kindly made some of these baby journlets (I think that is what she called them) which she offered to be swapped for trash...yep, trash!

This is the lovely make I received, isn't it fabulous.  There are some interesting pages in the leather bound mini journal and the whole thing was a great piece of mail as all I have been having delivered are bills and sympathy cards...so this was a welcome relief.

So, whilst sorting out the craft room (and dad's shed) I am putting stuff in a box to pass to Donna when I meet her in a few weeks time (I apologise in advance....trash you asked for...and trash you shall receive!!!).

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

WOYWW

Happy WOYWW, I will keep this short as things are still, as you'd expect, a bit hectic after the past few weeks (see previous post for update).

On my desk this week....ATC's! Also some cork sheet, some plastic boxes (bottom left) for storing my stamps (I have decided to remove them from the wooden basis to free up some room) and a couple of pieces of green leather..all for 50p at the local scrap store, bargain!

My "Man Bites Dog" cards this weeks spell out "Suspect Stuns Cruel Singer"....ooh, I wonder what will materialize in the news tonight!!

The queen of workdesks, Julia leads the legal snoop of desks (albeit with some sangria in tow at the moment!!) so why dont you pop over to her blog and check it out.

Happy Crafting 

Kyla

 

3D embroidered picture

Hello everyone, I hope you were able to enjoy the sun (if you had it) yesterday...I certainly did.  My hubby, brother and I went around bedminster in Bristol in search of the large bugs (82 in total) that have been painted and erected around the area on shop fronts etc. A great few hours topped of with a sneaky pint in a local venue that used to be a tobacco factory.

It was a lovely day, we haven't had many of them over the past few weeks.  I will keep it short, but a couple of weeks ago my wonderful father sadly passed away.  So every waking minute has been organising and dealing with 'stuff'.  Thankfully my brother (and his lovely new wife) have been over from their home in Ecuador and they have been such a great help.

I was delaying posting my latest make as its was an anniversary present for my parents, dad passed away 2 days before their 44th anniversary but luckily they opened it a few days before whilst I was there-so I thought it was time to post it on here.

 This is the finished piece. 

 

 I scanned the newspaper article about their wedding and printed it on fabric (using the freezer paper technique...google it or message me if you want the deets).

I then added various pieces of fabric, organza, silk tops, lace etc and free machine embroidered it to secure.

I added some words, buttons, feathers, silk cocoons etc and a mixture of machine and hand embroidery.

I was so pleased that my mum and dad opened it before he died, he had a lovely smile on his face....a nice memory.

Right, enough woeful thinking for now, I just thought I should explain why I have not been on here as often as I would.

Kyla

 

WOYWW

Hello everyone.

Only a really quick post today as I have LOTS to do....

Over on Julia's blog is Whats on Your Workdesk Wednesday, the global legal snoop at desks in various forms (and even a floor if you visit Stamping by H's page!!).

This is my desk this week......

On the desk are some ATC's I am making ready for the next WOYWW birthday (I have covered most of them so it will still be a surprise if you get one).

My "Man Bites Dog" cards this week are "Mayor weeps for lost thousands"....hmmm....not sure about that one!

Anyway, happy WOYWW

Kyla

 

April 365 Journal Challenge

Hello peeps.

I am running a little late this month (half way through already....where did April go?) and I hadn't realised that I had not yet posted my April page for the 365 challenge...most remiss of me!

So, to rectify yer 'tis (as they say in the west country!!).

I have used dylusion inks (such fabulous strong colours) and stamps and also an Octopode stamp (Alice in Wonderland).

Other fabulous entries can be found at the wonderful Kate Crane's blog here  

Happy Crafting

Kyla

 

Inspired by Finnabair

 Hello peeps.  Over on the Snazzy's DT blog (a fabulous craft shop in Swindon...I recommend it if you are looking for the unusual and are in the West country) they have a challenge to be inspired by Finnabair.

Well, let be honest, its not difficult to be inspired by her work (if your are unfamiliar with her amazing work check out her blog)

So I decided to do a page on thick watercolour paper (its so thick I though it would be able to take the gesso and all the inks I planned on using!!).

I have not tried anything like this before and I was quite pleased with how it came out.

I started by using some texture paste through a butterfly necklace pendant and some sequin waste.  I added some fabric, flowers, beads, homemade resin flowers and hearts, washers, 2 hot glue cogs (I LOVE using hot glue like this) and then added some hot glue lines for even more texture.  I then gesso'd the whole lot (but forgot to take a photo of this stage!!).

 

I then used a selection of Dylusion inks and Tim Holtz DI to colour the page.

 

I then flicked water to add some distressing and flicked some black dylusions too.

I added a photo of my dad and me when I was first born, scratching the ink away and adding a little colour to help blend it in.  I finished with a hand drawn frame around the picture.

I think i will definitely try this technique again.

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

WOYWW after a fashion

Hello, no photo of my desk this week as things are a bit manic at the moment at chez Kyla but I still wanted to take part in the lovely Julia's Whats on Your Workdesk Wednesday so I thought I would blog one of my recent journal pages.

I am all travelling here and there at the moment and rarely at my desk so my trusty travel craft kit and journal has really come into its own.  This page is made with dylusion inks and stamps and I added a tag and handwriting that I 'disguised' slightly by making it messy (I am left handed so its not too difficult!!) and then went over with white pen too.

Happy WOYWW all

Kyla

 

WOYWW

All around the world crafters are crying "Wednesday?  Already?" or "ooh, thats a nice clean desk" and suchlike.

Why? I hear you cry.  Because of the wonderful Julia and her blog  where you can legally snoop at desks across the globe.

So here is mine:

It's strewn with bits and bobs from a card making session (as well as bits and bobs from previous sessions...".I may use that soon so no point putting it away yet"..you get the picture!)

My "Man Bites Dog Cards" this week (see, I remembered this week!) spell out "Romantic Star Shoots Nurse"...oh, thats not nice!

 

This is the card I made (well, 3 of them as lets be honest it takes just as long to make a few if they are the same as it does one...if you see what I mean).

Right, I am rambling...so if you'd like to snoop around some desks across the globe pop over to Julia's desk...go on...you know you want to  :-)

Happy Crafting

Kyla

 

I made a skirt....yep you read that right!

 Hello everyone, I hope you had a nice Easter break and managed to get some crafting done.

At the start of the Easter break I went round to my friends place (who is SO much more experienced than I in sewing stuff) and decided to have a go at making a lined skirt (gulp!!)

I made a rooky mistake....I bought the amount of fabric it said on the pattern!!  I was soon shown how to get more out of my fabric and I now have enough to make 2 skirts!!!

About 4 hrs later I had a lined skirt, complete with a nice and tidy zip (unlike a skirt I made a couple of years ago where the zip was at an angle and sticking out of the top of the skirt!!) .

Ta da!!  My own skirt.....daisy's with pink, yellow and pink splatters on a black background.  A fraction of the cost if I bought one (a big thanks to my friend...she made it SO much easier)

Now, I just need to try and make one on my own (gulp again!!)

Happy Crafting

Kyla