wine postcard

Hello peeps just a quick update as I am presuming this has gotten to the recipient by now as I posted it about 3 weeks ago (to NZ).  This was a postcard (as not able to post overseas cards at the moment as that means having to go into a post office for weighing them for the stamps whilst I had a couple international postcard stamps left over) that I made for my Uncle's birthday

The background bottles were stamped and distressed and the main topper was matted and layered, not sure where I got the image from as it was in my scraps box but they love their wine festivals so it seemed fitting for the recipient.

Hope you are all keeping ok and catch up soon

kyla

Cards update

Just  a quick update on a few cards I have made.

These were the cat stamped image, I thought it made sense to colour a few at the same time to make a batch, and to be honest it worked out quite well as I made 4 in only 30 mins.

I also coloured a couple of these hedgehog images (since it was the same colour palette) to add to my greeting card stash

Think I may need to get grungy next time as my hands are looking too clean!

Kyla

WOYWW

Happy hump day and another What's on your Workdesk Wednesday and check me out, yet again getting some crafting in!!  To be honest, it is usually only 30 mins here and there at the moment and the weather has helped over the past few weeks as not been able to get out on the allotment much, but still, crafting!

So on my desk this week are some more stamped images I am working through to make some more cards, I seem to have an animal theme over the past couple weeks, no idea why, but I am going with it!

My "Man Bites Dog" cards this week are 'Blonde Star Stabs Tourist'-ooh not a great headline, but then to be honest they rarely are!

So are you going to bare all and share you desk?  

If so all the details are over on the Queen of Desks blog here

Happy crafting

kyla

Key Holder upcycling

 As Christmas is well and truly over I am safe to post one of my Christmas pressie makes.

My brother and sister-in-law said they would like a key holder so I thought I would try making one rather than buying one.  

Not something I have ever made before but I decided to have a go.

A few years ago I decided to take off my red rubber stamps from their wooded bases in an attempt to save space.  Now the wood was lovely and smooth so too good to throw away so I have had them all stashed away until I can think of something to do with them and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

I sanded, gesso'd and stamped a hummingbird and the word "keys" which I embossed then coloured in with posca pens.

When it dried I added a few coats of varnish and bought some key hooks.

I was really pleased how it turned out, not too fiddly just a bit of time for the drying between the layers etc but quite effective and totally personal (sis-in-law loves hummingbirds).

Now I just have about another 40 odd blocks of wood to use up!  Any ideas?

Happy crafting

Kyla

TH Birds

Just a quick update on my latest make.  Still on a challenge to use up stash I decided to use some of the stamped images I stamped from a previous WOYWW crop (waving to my 'enablers' Shaz and Helen if I remember correctly!!).

I stamped lots of images on plain card at the crop and later colour them in to use for a variety of different projects.

This project is unusual for me as it is quite a plain card and only one layer-but for me it works and I think it will be a good card for those occasions we all have where we struggle to find words for a friend but we want them to know we are thinking of them.

Kyla

A day of crafting and doing nothing

 I finally took a leaf out of my own book (telling others to 'take care of themselves' and 'you cannot pour from an empty cup' etc) and decided to take a day off work with no intention of doing housework, ironing, paperwork etc.  All I was going to do was rest and craft.

Now I tend to be a list maker and ticker off....I rarely sit still and talk too much BUT I do meditate on a regular basis and I have found that when I have too much 'internal chatter' going on that crafting takes me out of my zone and allows me to be more mindful by concentrating just on that one thing.  To be honest I have crafted for almost 40 years so I don't even really concentrate on technique anymore more of a 'go with the flow' and see where it takes me!

So I decided to make my husband a birthday card

and finally get round to using up some of these lovely images I stamped ages ago from a friends stamp I borrowed.

Before I knew it I had a stack of cards all made and a few hours of not thinking about work, housework, finance or my RA-what bliss.

So I need to remember this and schedule more days (or even just half days) into my diary for 'me' and to allow time for myself to rest and repair.  I love my daily walks (which I have been doing for over a year now) but I need something else.

How do you give yourself some precious 'downtime'?  I am open to ideas.

Happy crafting

Kyla

Red, red wine....

Just a quick update, I thought I would stamp up some images from the lovely stamp Shaz gifted me at the recent crop.  I have been after a decent sized wine bottle stamp for AGES (literally years) and Shaz kindly gave me this one.

So I stamped it on card with memento ink and was really surprised at how fine, crisp and detailed the image was.

A quick blast with the heat gun to set the ink and I started colouring it with inktense pencils applied with a wet brush so that I got that 'fluid' look.

I set the colours with a quick spray (I normally use a spray sealant but I was being lazy so grabbed my hairspray!) and was really pleased with the outcome.

I plan on making some masks so that I can stamp the glass and bottle separately and also mask the words and the wine label-I will let you know how I get on.

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

Multi layered scraps

Thought I would post one of my latest cards I made.

The background is an old 12x12 patterned scrapbook sheet I no longer like that I gesso'd, painted, wiped back, stencilled, stamped and collaged!

I then added an off-cut from an Angelina fibre die cut butterfly that I made for a previous card and attached it with coloured mini staples.

I added a butterfly with some foil adhered for a little bling and stamped a sentiment on the bottom left.

I got suitably inky and covered in paint so I was a happy bunny!

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

A smiling soul

Hello peeps, just a quick update on a new card I made for a friend.

The saying just seemed to scream out for this happy soul to be used on the card!

I added a couple drops of glossy accents on the eyes and heart and a piece of ribbon to cover the join between the two pieces of patterned paper.

Nice and simple, but hopefully does what it says on the tin!

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

 

Plain and simple card

Thought I would challenge myself to a quick make!

I decided to make a single layer card in under ten minutes.

This is what I came up with

 I made a mask from waste paper by die cutting a large hole in the middle then stamped some script through.  I stamped the seed heads and sentiment and added 3 black pearls for a touch of understated luxury.

Plain and simple and I think is suitable for those difficult occasions when I really 

struggle to find a suitable card.

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

 

Silver and a wedding

Hello, I have been waiting to post my latest make until the recipient had opened it!

 

On 13/09/13 my brother married Zoe.  It was a lovely day and several months ago I decided what I would make them for their first wedding anniversary.

 

I bought a solid silver spoon (hallmarked Birmingham 1928) and hammered the bowl flat.

I then punched into the metal the date of their wedding.

 Now, I have to come clean, if you are thinking of making one of these, whilst not difficult I did mess up!  The first one I made I accidently moved the punch as I hammered it which meant it produced a shadow secondary punch!  So that means my first spoon will be sold for smelting down (doh!!).  So my big tip would be TAKE YOUR TIME....do not rush!

 

 I thought it would be a very individual present (without taking up too much room) but something to let them both know how much we think of them and how pleased they found each other.

 

Happy crafting

 

Kyla

Make Time to Create

 Hello all, I hope those of you who have time off of work are enjoying it (extra crafting time!!).

Blimey its cold here in the UK at the moment, the ice in the back garden hasn't defrosted for 2 weeks now....luckily the craft room is the smallest in the house and bathes in the sunlight so its the warmest!!

My new make is a new stamp.  On my WOYWW a few weeks ago I had a pack of 10 round rubber discs which only cost me £2.50 (25p each---bargain!).

Now I have admired the folky art girls that have been around in books and blogland for some time, so I thought I would have a go.  Now, drawing and me are not natural friends but I thought if I managed to draw one I liked then by capturing it in a stamp would mean that I could replicate the face time and time again.

So here she is:

 

I decided to create a picture on a canvas covered board using the new stamp.

I spread some texture paste through a number stencil at random points on the board.  Top right I spread some through a clock face that I liberated from an old desk clock I was throwing away and added some clock hands (made from wooden drink stirrers I pick up from coffee shops!)

I added lots of acrylic layers, pinks and yellows with blue, green and black over the top for depth.  I then dribbled some acrylic inks down the board.  

I stamped "Make Time to Create" on tissue paper and adhered it with multi medum and added the girl cut out of various papers and distressed them with inks.  I coloured her face with oil pastels so I could blend the colours.

I highlighted a few areas with both black and white chinagraph pencils and gave the piece a quick spray of matt varnish to seal.

The saying is so true to me, I spend hours at the pay the bill job and think about it almost constantly when I am not there.....it drags me down and the best way to relax, for me at least, is to create something, be it fabric, ink, paper or resin....but finding the time is difficult-I think I need to schedule some time for it in my diary, even if its only 30 minutes a day.

Anyway, its a bank holiday, housework is nearly finished...so the warmth of the craft room beckons!

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

March 365 Journal Challenge

 Hello peeps, are you wrapped up warm?....we are having another chilly spell here in the uk, -10 in the wind (now, I know this is nothing to some of you...but we are used to damp weather, we don't do cold very well!)!!

Are you taking part in Kate Crane's 365 journal challenge?  No? Well all the deets can be found here

Basically its a small jounalling every day for a year.  I am in my 2nd year, its so easy, it only takes a couple of minutes a day, and its great looking back over the year and remembering some of the small things that have happened.

I decided to go with cheerful blues, purples, greens, turquoise and yellows to brighten up the days! 

 I love Octopodes Mad March Hare stamp so I decided to hide a couple of them in amongst the flowers! 

He looks like I feel some days!!

I have also decided to enter the Mad as a March Hare over at http://alteredalice.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/chapter-25-mad-as-march-hare.html 

Enjoy the snow if you have it...I am off for a warming hot toddy!

Happy Crafting 

Kyla

 

I know, I have been rubbish

What can I say? I could say I've been ultra busy at work, working ridiculous hours. I could say I have not been feeling too great. I could say I have not had much time to craft let alone blog. I could even say I have been curled up on the sofa whilst the snow falls....wondering why the hell the boiler decided to play silly beggars on Boxing Day and stop giving us hot water.

I could say all of these....and they would all be right, basically life has been taking over, as it often does when its Christmas, you try to make your cards and presents and then the sky decides to deposit a ton of snow which lasts for a couple of weeks!! But that is no excuse for not updating my blog and taking part in the challenges I started to really enjoy back in the Autumn (which seems SO long ago now).

So, my new years resolution is to blog more.....(I'm hoping its easier than giving up alcohol!)

Starting as I mean to go on....

I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to make everyone a handcrafted gift, so to make up I tarted up shop bought goodies with homemade tags.


I spritzed and stamped some background papers, using stamps and sequin waste and then added a seasonal ribbon across the length. Next I added gold mesh material and pink organza and heated these briefly with a heat gun to shrink and distress it.

Next I ironed a sheet of multiple coloured Angelina fibres which I then tore into pieces, gluing to the tag, along with some punched green foliage and a tag backed with card coloured with alcohol inks. I finally threaded through some frilly fibres and added a button. The whole lot was secured with a hot glue gun (I get through so many glue sticks I think the local hardware shop may be thinking I have a problem!).

Hopefully the recipients liked them. I certainly did.

Happy crafting
Li'l Pidge x

Well, this is a photo from the back window of my wee garden looking all clean and tidy whilst covered in snow. It stayed like this for nearly 2 weeks but is now back to a muddy mess, though they have given out snow for tommorow, so who knows, maybe I will get to go out and play in it for a bit longer!I have made lots, but havent yet taken photos (or gave then away and forget to take a photo!!). This is a distressed vintage card I made for my mum's birthday with paperartsy stamps and some distressed inks and crackle paint, I also had a go at sewing on the card also, hope you like it.I was really pleased with how this turned out and think I will try combining lace, paint and all manner of bits and pieces again.

Happy vrafting
Li'l pidge x

Platered of a different kind

So much for blogging regular-the last 5 weeks or so have been totally crazy. The house has been turned upside down as we have had walls and ceilings plastered and painted-it looks great now, but packing the entire ground floor of the house and moving into just our bedroom (meaning NO craft room for all that time-I cant tell you how patient my OH has been, I have been a 'mare not being able to craft-serious withdrawl) and the dust! Oh, the dust! Never in my life did I ever think I would see a day when I wanted, nay, looked foreward to dusting the house and cleaning!! But I am ok now, and that dark time of my life (when I wanted to clean and not be able to craft) has passed and the general dishevelled chaos of my home life has been restored! Hurrah!!

So, whats been happening in the 'Lil Pidge nest? Well, apart from all the plastering, painting and general hell of it all-we bought a couple of folding bikes!! Easier to store and can be chucked in the back of the car-its been great, we have been slowly getting out each week whizzing around the cycle lanes of the south west, we even cycled to our closest town at the weekend to get the shopping and cycled back with our rucksacks bulging-only 7 miles but its a start (the old wings are getting tired so a bike sounded easier).

And finally a bit of crafting (but nowhere near as much as I would have liked). I managed to use some the new stamps I bought from the 3D Jean website for a girlfriends birthday card this week
I used the rollagraph hibiscus stamp to create the background and hand coloured and glittered the 50's pip-up adding a little animal print ribbon and a polka dot brad.

Next up, a few Fathers day cards. Once again I have made my own backing paper by randomly colouring a piece of paper with a Distressed Ink Pad in tea dye then over spraying with an ink mist in diet cola colour, spraying over a cheap (£2) ASDA necklace of a fob watch. I then stamped a deckled edged piece horizontally with a script stamp and distressed the edges, adding a stamped clock face which I glazed.

All of this is mounted with eyelets onto a piece of textured wallpaper!.


The card at the front also has textured wallpaper-the black is fake stitched leather wallpaper, with an embossed piece of contrasting card, a ribbon and a holographic peeloff shirt mounted onto acetate and folded in a way to give depth to the card.

Finally, I made a baby girl card for an order at work, hopefully it will fit the bill.


and that is about it for now. Hopefully I will be able to get lots more crafting done over the coming weeks

Happy crafting

Lil Pidge

Veggie, Glass and Crafting, phew what a day

Evening all, well we got an hour extra today as the clocks went back an hour, and a good thing too as I fitted in SO much yesterday I could have done with the extra hour 24 hours earlier!

Saturday morning saw us get our latest delivery from Riverford Organic, a veg and fruit box delivered each week, yum-such a range of food that we are having to think on our feet a bit and cook meals we wouldn't normally cook (but that is great as we are rediscovering some old and forgotten favourites). Its a great box isnt it?

Then, my parents call round and we all went for a day out near Cirencester. A lady opens her gardnes each year to host an outdoor sculpture exhibition. This year it was glass as the subject. It was a cold, wet day but there was some great pieces, including the glass balloons on her lawn and glass flower seed heads-so clever.

Afterwards, would you believe it, just 5 minutes drive up the road was The Stamp Bugs weekend open event! I had never been to their shop before (the owner was the previous Editor of the Stamper magazine) but it is crammed full of goodies and a make and take and had 10% off all stock and lots of stamps 50% off and some only £1!! Well, I think you can guess what happened next..........

Yep, overdraft came into play again!!!!! The lovely large veggie stamps were only £2 each and the smaller ones £1, so a bargain! I cant wait to have a play (though it has taken over an hour to mount all the unmounted stamps!). My mum bought me the Stamper book, its got some great ideas that I will be experimenting with over the next few weeks-what this space for the results!.

Hope you all had a great weekend and happy crafting

Li'l Pidge

Clear blue skies, a wedding and a diamond

Well, what a weekend. Glorious weather, unbroken sunshine with only a gentle warm breeze, perfect for my brother-in-law's wedding. Scott married Lucy in the glorious city of Bath, surrounded by family and friends and they both looked amazing. It was a wonderful day, and this is the card I made for them. I took MANY photo's but I have decided not to post them on here yet until they have seen them ('tis only fair).

This did mean I had very little time this weekend for crafing, and when I have, it has been to make things for the CB Halloween blogparty on the 17th (I am hoping to be able to put a link on here later). But I did have time to carve a diamond stamp and make this retro inspired card with it

Anyway, since my OH is off at bandpractise tonight I am going to take advantage and do a bit of crafting...

Happy Crafting

Li'l Pidge

A cordial evening

I didn't feel too good this weekend so no new makes to display, however, my Fathers day card was well received.

I showed a little peak at it earlier in the blog. I am really pleased with the results, it's an easy version of a pop up card, but as it was a first attempt I thought I would make my life a little easier (for a change!).

I did manage to get out another R.A.K. for another CraftsBeautiful forum member, its a good way to sort out your stash and share a little bit of joy - especially since the only post we all seem to get these days are junk mail and bills (I do like the idea of returning the junk mail to the sender in one of the franked envelopes they send you - even more cost to them, a fair retribution considering I never even asked for the 10 or so credit card/personal loans mailshots I seem to get each week!).

The nice weather yesterday did spring me into action and me and the OH decided to have an evening stroll along the stream that runs down the back of our street (I am hoping the exercise will cancel out the large glass of cheeky red I had when we returned!). I must admit to having an ulterior motive as I also took a couple of bags with us and as we walked we collected Elderflower heads from the hedge-row. I then mixed them in a bucket (ooh, its all high-tech round here) with sliced lemons, more sugar than is healthy, citric acid and hot water. Stir every day for 5 days, strain and bottle and there you have it - homemade Elderflower cordial! Its a recipe from a friend of my Mum's (thanks Gussie) so I am looking forward to trying it.

I did make it, yet again in my back garden. What with the felt making and now this the neighbours really must wonder about me!

Happy crafting

Li'l Pidge

Welcome to my Blog

Hello, after some time reading all the fantastic blogs on this site I have finally decided to take the plunge and start a blog.

I hope this will be a way to share with you designs, inspirations and of course the end product!

To start this off, this is an acceptance card I recently made for my bother-in-law Scott and his lovely fiance Lucy. It was a bit time consuming as I had to stamp and emboss the velum, carefully tear the cardstock adding glitter etc. but worth it for the happy couple.

Hopefully I will have more to post soon.

Li'l Pidge

as Kate Bush once said "be kind to my mistakes"