Christmas pressie update

So for Christmas this year many of the family got handmade hampers with chutneys, jams, pickled nasturtium seeds (bit like capers), elderflower cordial and Sloe Gin.

However those overseas means I cannot always send handmade food items (especially to New Zealand) so I have to rethink their gifts.

This year I was able to make my mum some glass ear rings and necklace.  I attended a glass workshop and we made different items learning how to layer glass rods etc, I really enjoyed it and it is something I would do again (it could be quite addictive I have already done a couple of glass blowing lessons too!)

It meant got to make something individual and personal that I know she won't already have so I was pleased with that.

If anyone else has any ideas for presents that can be sent overseas then please let me know as I am running out of ideas!!

Happy crafting

kyla

Nomadic Community Gardens

 London, especially Shoreditch is well known for its street art.

However, if you go off the beaten track and walk behind the railway line you find some great art and a fantastic project.  In 2015 a local group approached a developer who bought some land with an idea for a community project.  It encompassed temporary structures, raised beds growing food for the locals as well as a safe place for artists to practise and develop.  The developer agreed and Nomadic Community Gardens was created.

There is so much to see in the area, this is quite a photo heavy blog post but no-where near the total amount of photos I took on the day!

This will just give you a taster, if you are down in London why not pop along and support them (there is even a little mobile coffee cart you can purchase a drink whilst you wander round taking in all the art).

 The piece at the top is by Jimzina  on the womans sawdust 'toilet' and shares door space with a piece by ripartist.

 street art jostles for space alongside some large sculptures

 

and some pieces by famous street artists such as John D'oh and Losthills

 

 There are small pieces like on this barrel

to large pieces over the side of this building (too big to even fit on the screen in one shot!)

 

 all of this whilst the trains run past above the gardens

 whilst we were there they were painting over pieces to form blank canvasses so artists could practise and paint over them to create new art.

 the surrounding park and train tunnels have even more art

 this monkey was painted by fanakapan and 

 this amazing bird by envol.ldn

 It is a great space for the community to use

 and I cannot wait to go back and see how it develops and what new art emerges 

All this is hidden behind the popular shoreditch street markets where there is even more street art but these little known areas offer some fantastic art.

Kyla

 

February 365 Challenge

Hello peeps, its almost the weekend!  Woo-hoo!!

Today I thought I would share my latest month in Kate Cranes 365 journal challenge. 

 I have been doing this for years and all it takes is a small drawing or sentence to sum up your day.  Once your months page is prepped it only takes a minute which is why I probably have stuck to this challenge for so long!!

My pages were coloured with TH distress stains then I overlaid a circle stencils and sequin waste which I inked through adding a few stencilled numbers.  I then added some white acrylic with an old gift card and then added the date squares and doodled a border.

I then stamped the month in black ink.  Coloured it with red posca pens and added some red stickles glitter (I bought it over 5 years ago and its STILL going strong!),  I stamped and cut out some hearts and doodled string to turn them into balloons.

There you have it...all 29 days ready for February.

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

Tunnel book round up

 A while ago I joined the Collabor-ART page.  Donna who I met at a WOYWW crop put me in touch with them, then the group closed (just bad timing I think)!!!  Well, I met up with Sarah one of the founding members as part of Free Art Friday and she set up a FB group and asked if we would like to do a tunnel book group project!  It sounded like fun so I signed up.

It was easy to do, purchase a childrens board book from a charity shop, cut a series of holes in each page, choose a theme and paint the cover in the theme before posting it to the next person who completes their page and so on until eventually after a few months it came back to the owner.

This  was my 50p book!

 

 I cut holes in each page to make a 'tunnel' and chose the theme of "Discworld" in honour of Terry Pratchett one of my favourite authors.

 On the cover I painted Great A'Tuin the gigantic turtle that floats across the skies with the discworld upon its back.

 On the next page I decided to use the librarian as the inspiration.  Now in Discworld the librarian is an Orang-utan (he wasn't always, the strong magic at the university changed him and he decided to stay that way!). Now, having never completed a book before I had NO idea that it was easier if you did a double page spread, but no worries as the next person on the list, Carmen, kindly finished the double page for me (I love the eyes peeping out from between the books!)

 Carmen then did a Death spread (I love the depth of colour on these pages).

 Next up was Jas and a spread about Greebo (a cat with attitude).  The shine and lustre on these pages are sublime.

 The next pages are by Sarah - Rincewind with the Luggage (I love the feet!) and the way the hat is thrown over the hole cut away.

That means I have the final double page and the back cover to finish off.  No idea what to do on the double page spread, but I think I will do Death walking off into the sunset with Terry on the back cover, fitting.

Thanks Sarah for organising us and for everyone taking part.  It was totally amazing and I am in awe at the talent and would happily take part in another.

Kyla

 

366 Challenge

 Hello....I hope those of you in the UK are wrapped up warm...sub zero all day....not something we are used to here.  Rain, yes.....cold...not as much!

After a hectic weekend (last of my Christmas shopping-hooray, and the Charity event on Sunday, where with personal donations we raised £400!) I finally have had a chance to catch my breath and take some photos of my 366 challenge pages.

This is my December page so far, nice and bright with orangey browns and saffron colours-a little like gingerbread people or the colour of mulled cider!

I have stamped the pages with one of my TH Christmas stamps (the snowman) and a Christmas tree stamp I was lucky enough to pick up at the WOYWW crop from the freebie table!  How cool is that?

This is my completed November page

I added lots of sparkle and fireworks to the page....and in case you were wondering the witches hats represent the nights that our crafting coven get together!

I cannot believe I have been doing this challenge for nearly a year...I have never stuck to anything for as long as this AND I have already bought a book to do next years in!

If you'd like to see all the other enteries in the 366 challenge you can find the deets here 

Happy Crafting
kyla
 

366 Challenge

After 3 weeks on holiday I am a bit late in posting this months 366 Challenge over on Kate Cranes blog.  I am amazed that after 10 months I am still doing this!  I have a habit of flitting onto new things, but this is SO easy, a minute journalling a day and its done!
 

This is Octobers page (I think I will use a larger journal next year so I can add more detail...ooh check me out, I am already talking about continuing into next year!).

If you'd like to check out other journals, and Kate's amazing blog all the deets are here

Happy Crafting

Kyla
 

366 Challenge

I am back from a wet camping trip to Devon.  Sun would have been better, but we had a lovely time sat with friends around the camp fire, with NO phone signal so we all chatted and played board games.....a lovely time.

I took my 366 challenge with me so I could fill it in (my memory isn't what it used to be....it's an age thing!).

This is my July pages all finished.

Already started, this is my August page.  I cannot believe we are half way through August already.....and more to the point I cannot believe I am still doing the 366 challenge....I never stick to challenges.....but this is so easy (a small journal each day) and it is lovely looking back over the months reminding myself what happened (see, it's a memory thing!)

The challenge is run by the very talented Kate Crane and all the deets can be found here

Right, I'm off to clean up the craft room!!  Yep, you heard me right.....its such a mess and has been for weeks.....its so messy there is NO room to craft!  If you are are WOYWWer then I plan on a before and after shot to show how slutty a crafter I really am!!!

Happy crafting

Li'l  pidge x

June 366 Challenge

After a few days away in a wet and windy Devon I thought I should catch up with blogging.  I am really behind with it all, missed WOYWW, haven't even unpacked let alone done the food shopping....but its 50-70 mph winds today and driving rain so hopefully I will get some catching up under my belt.

I find it difficult to believe that we are in month 5 of Kate Cranes 366 Challenge,deets are here.

This is my June entry.  It doesnt look it in the photo (its dark and drab here so the shot isnt that great) but this is pinks, yellows and purples (Dylusions) for the background with vines and flowers (and yes, a little bit of stickles bling).  Hopefully the sunny background will influence the weather......it can't rain for this long.....seriously????


Anyway, need to unpack.....dirty, damp clothes in a suitcase is NOT a good smell!!

Happy Crafting

Li'l Pidge 

366 Challenge

Happy weekend everyone, 2 days of sunshine.....woo-hoo!!!!!  What fun.....popped down to the beach and did some journaling then supper in a pub on the way back....I could get used to this!

So, I have finally gotten round to downloading some photos (I am terrible, I used to set the darkroom up in the bathroom and process my photos as soon as I took them...now on digital they sit on my camera for weeks (months in a few cases!!) before I get round to looking at them!.

So, finally downloaded are my latest offerings for Kate Cranes 366 challenge.

This is April's all complete:

and this is May.....I thought I would try lighter colours for a change (pale and ladylike is so NOT like me but I thought I'd give it a try)

Considering this journaling is new to me, I am impressed that this is now month 5!!!

I hope you all enjoy the rest of the weekend

Happy Crafting

Li'l Pidge x

366 challenge

 So, are you all having a lovely Bank Holiday? (well those of you here in the UK that is).  Its wet and gales have been forecast for later so that means I can squirrel myself away in the craft room, gawp at some lovely blogs, update mine and craft amongst the snotty tissues and bouts of sneezing....gotta love spring colds!


Have you been following the very talent Kate Crane 366 challenge?  She is uber talented and makes the most amazing journals.  I had never journalled before until I came across her work, I was so taken with it I bought both her DVD's!!


Well, in an effort to show how easy it is to craft a little every day she has the 366 challenge, you have a small journal entry for each day.


This is my completed March page

And my recently started April page.  I thought I would keep it sunny and bright to represent the start of spring!!

I learnt from earlier months not to add too much embellishment at the start, I used oil pastels etc and found I couldn't write anything over them!  So now I keep the pages reasonably clean and once I have filled in all the days I will add oil pastels etc-hopefully it will work this way round.  That's the great thing with craft, you are always learning.

So, if your sat on the sofa stuffing your face full of chocolate (or even still in bed....well its a day off for some so why not?!) pop over and check out Kate's page, she has some amazing pages.

Also a bit hello to my new follower, mjbaker, thanks for joining me.

I hope you all have a lovely Easter and happy crafting

Li'l Pidge x

366 Challenge

 So, the start of a new month means 3 things:
1. Pay day!  Hurrah!
2. a month closer to the Coven craft fair outing, and,
3. time to post my 366 challenge enteries!


And here they are, this is my completed February journal page.  I really enjoyed completing this page, it was such a busy month what with my birthday treat to london, valentines day and a school reunion, I hardly had time to craft but the 366 challenge allowed me just a minute or two to do a wee little bit of crafting-such a great idea.

And this is my clean page for March (well, already filled in the 1st and 2nd...keener!)

The pages arent really that buckled....they are still a bit damp so hopefully they will flatten out when dry.

If your not sure what the 366 challenge is, check out Kate Cranes here she makes the most amazing art and SO many people (including me) have joined her in this challenge.

Happy crafting

Li'l Pidge x

WOYWW and 366 challenge

Ready for the mantra?......Wednesday?  Already?  Where has the week gone?!!!

Well, after last weeks spell of sickness (me deciding to clean the craft room!!) it is now clean and tidy, yep....and after each session I put everything (apart from the scraps box which is reducing as I make cards for the Use it Up challenge) away unless it needs to be left out to allow something to dry.

I must admit, it does feel better.  As a left hander, having space for my left hand to actually move is fantastic!! 

So this week at the back of my desk is my journal for February's 366 Challenge (pop over to Kate Cranes blog here to read all about the challenge) and I am making a couple of valentine cards with red air drying clay hearts and keys (the idea being you stole the key to my heart.....ahhhhh!)

This is my finished journal page for January.  It's my first one and I must admit I have had an absolute blast doing it, and it uses up yet more scraps (hurrah!!)

This is my empty page ready for February...I wonder what the month will bring?! (well I know I will be another year older soon, but apart from that the month still holds wonder and anticipation (anticipation of cake!!).

So, if you would like to join us for a legal snoop around desks all over the world, please join us at the lovely Julia's blog here (as featured in this months Blog of the month in Craft Stamper magazine, well done Julia, well deserved as we all love doing this every week!!).

Happy Crafting

Li'l Pidge x