WOYWW

So, Whats on your Workdesk this Wednesday?  Well, this is probably my most colourful desk for a while!  It's a little bit like confetti exploded all over my desk!!

The reason is I have been spending this year trying to use up my stash.  Lets be honest, many of us have TOO much.  So if I do go to a craft fair or shop I am really stringent on what I buy.  I take a list (as there are times I need to replace often used stock such as glue, varnish, card blanks etc) and sometimes a new bit of stash can be a good thing (so long as you think about it and its not a rash purchase!!).  The last few shows I have been to I have stuck to my list and could carry my purchases in one bag...and not a massive bag either!!

So, when on Pinterest (my free housework distraction) I noticed some boards where people were using punches to make different things.  Last week I used my circular and scallop punch to make sheep and pigs (in my last WOYWW post, and the card I cannot show quite yet as its not been opened by the recipient) and I noticed that a lot of people 'pinned' the Stampin' Up Owl punch and fellow coven member Bex has one so I borrowed it and spent the past few days punching out various colours and shapes.  When they are all assembled I promise to share them.

I have made reindeer, bats these above are PAC MAN!  These were not on Pinterest but as a massive fan (I was lucky enough to have the handheld game in the 80's....see, handheld games are not a new thing!) I was sat there looking at my coloured card when it suddenly dawned on me they looked like the ghosts in the game!  Men's cards are always difficult but I reckon theses will go down a storm. 

My "Man Bites Dog" cards this week are 'Hero Nurse Shoots dead Mob Boss"...oooh!

So, if you'd like a legal snoop at desks across the globe then pop over to Julia's blog (link over on the right) and show your desks in all their glory!!

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

Getting lost

 I decided it was time to get inky again and get some stamps out.

The map, hand and compass are stamped on watercolour card so they have a nice feel to them.  I then used distress inks and flicked water over which I blotted off to remove some of the ink.

I added sepia glossy accents to the compass and added a computer generated saying before adding a squiggly frame around the card.

I love the idea of getting lost...but so rarely have the time these days.  Perhaps I should make time, after all back in January my word of the year was "Balance"?

Happy crafting

Kyla

She tapped her shoes together and wished she was home

 After my last post so many of you asked to see my comfy shoes so here they are!

 Because I suffer from Rheumatoid Arthritis I find it incredibly difficult to find shoes that are comfortable and not look like something my 90 year old grandmother would wear (nothing personal nan!).  We found these at the Sidmouth follk festival and in the end my Mum bought me, my sister in law and herself a pair each.

 They are lined with wonderfully soft suede with a brilliantly spongy but grippy rubber sole edged with rope.

They come from dragonflytotnes.co.uk and they have a shop in the high street and also in the market on Friday and Saturdays.

If you are online or down south in the UK I really recommend them as they are SO comfortable.

Hope you have a happy weekend

Kyla

WOYWW and a Goat

Hello peeps, Wednesday again..I am not sure where the week goes!

So on my workdesk this week is my pink tape runner gun (big thanks again to the WOYWW crop raffle) which I am now addicted to (Sam Hettie-you were correct, they are the best!).

Also towards the back of the desk (seriously how do I get SO little room on my desk to actually work?!) is a new addition.  Its a felted goat!  As you do!!  At Sidmouth Folk festival last week we bought some really comfortable shoes and I was telling everyone who would listen about them so the stall holder gave me one of the goat egg cosies he was also selling (shoes and cosies...an obvious pairing!).  I haven't worked out yet if it was as a thankyou for helping him sell shoes or to shut me up and move me along!  

Also on my desk is a little sheep I have made out of circular and scallop punches.  On Pinterest  (my excuse for procrastination!) there are LOADS of ideas on how to create different things with basic punches so I am making a farmyard card for my nephews 3rd birthday, so cannot show it yet!

My "Man Bites Dog" cards this week....'Psychic Dog Tricks Thousands'...looks like the mayor has been let off the hook this week!!

So, if you would like a legal snoop at desks across the globe then pop over to our leader Julia' s desk (link over on the right) for all the deets.

Happy Crafting

Kyla

 

Free art

 So, the other weekend I decided to join in Free Art Friday. There are various ones all over the world, where on a Friday free pieces of art are left out in the wild for anyone to find and keep!  It is a great idea and we have had it in Bristol for a while but I have never been brave enough to take part.

Swindon was having a Free Art Friday grand opening with a Smoke and Mirrors art exhibition at Jack Rabbit with some amazing pieces of art on display.  At the last minute (as in 10 pm the night before) I decided to make some small pieces from a tikki head I drew and carved a stamp from.  I added this to some embossing paste through sequin waste and some paper cloth that I stitched adding some acrylic ink dribbled across the pictures.

 I had no idea that Swindon had any street art but there was a few amazing pieces (I must admit we are lucky in Bristol as the home on Bansky and so many amazing art installations).

 SO many pieces of art were left out for people to find (I think there was about 100!!).  We weren't lucky enough but I met someone who found one of mine!

One of the people freeing the art was the amazing artist and my virtual friend on FB and blogger Sarah who was really busy bombing around the town setting lots of art free but I was able to meet up with briefly.  Its always great meeting a virtual friend in real life and it was Sarah's encouragement that led me to make a few pieces myself (though I need to make them a bit bigger if I do it again as they were ATC size so got a little lost and not as easy to spot).

So if your area does a Free Art Friday why not join them?  The Swindon one had SO many different art forms from painted skateboards, records, graffiti art, teabag roses, stencils and even photos a real mix which was great to see and for me made it seem more achievable to join in.  If your area doesn't have one, why not start one?

Happy crafting

kyla

 

A fabulous tag book from Felix the crafty cat

 Hello, I just had to blog about what the postie brought me, no not bills (well there were, but they don't count) but this rather marvellous creation.

As part of a blogaversy Angela over at Felix the crafty cat was doing a giveaway of one of her tag books...and I won!!

 Look at how lovely it is....I think the basis is made with cardboard tubes (kitchen roll or loo roll inners maybe?) and tons of lovely stamping and embellishments.

 Even a vellum page for some added texture

 I think this is my favourite saying

It's lovely isn't it?  I have been toying over the past two or three years with buying a wire bind it all machine and this may have just tipped me over the edge!!

Thanks Angela, its lovely.  

Kyla

 

Congratulations mail art

 Hi peeps, sorry not been around much lately as been off to London and then Devon...its all go.  London was great we got to go to the Royal Academy of Art Summer Exhibition, the Dennis Hopper Photography exhibit, Comics Unmasked at the British Library and 3 other exhibitions at Somerset House..SO much art it was great.

Then onto Sidmouth folk festival for a bit of R&R so I have lots to blog over the next week but not the time as hit the ground running upon my return to work (why does that ALWAYS seem to happen?!).

One thing I was waiting to blog (but wanted to wait to ensure it got received it time) was my latest mail art.  My penfriend from school days (we met through amateur radio magazine penfriends!!) has just gotten engaged.  He lives in America and we were lucky enough to meet when he came to stay about 25 years ago when we were in our late teens.  He is an absolutely lovely guy and I am so pleased he has obviously met his soul mate so I wanted to celebrate by making them a piece of art (they are both cat lovers hence the cat!).

 

Congratulations to Josh and Caitlin.

Happy crafting

Kyla