Wednesday 19th February 2014

At the weekend I was feeling a little down so I thought I should treat myself.  A trip to our nearest Hobbycraft store in Truro - this probably had something to do with the fact I'd received an email with 20% off everything.  Anyway I went, I saw, I bought.  And in my purchases was the January Goody Bag from docrafts.  I've never bought one of these but was pleased with the contents especially as I'd see some of their latest ranges and quite liked them.  The bag comes with a project sheet so I thought I'd have a go.  Here are two completed projects and I'm just waiting for the photographs of another two.  See what you think:

Richard took the pics, so much better at it than I am, many thanks to you Richard.  Enjoyed making these items and as soon as I have the photos of the other two projects I'll post them.  

The instructions were good and I managed to get these finished on Sunday.

As last week saw us all celebrate Valentines day I only just managed to get a couple of cards done - one for Richard and one for my son to give to his girlfriend.  Richard's been busy with that camera:

That's all I have time for now so see you again.

 

Saturday 25th January 2014

Today I received my order from The Stamp Attic in Wantage - thank you Wendy (The Stamp Attic.  I've ordered some kraft resist, archival ink (jet black), alcohol blending solution, Distress Stain (Picket Fence), shrink plastic and the latest edition of Somerset Studio which I've not seen in the flesh before.

I've enjoyed reading Somerset Studio and found the articles and the adverts interesting and compelling.   I felt that the final article by Ronni Ann Hall struck a nerve - entitled The Wrong Puzzle Piece it is her short tale about entering her artwork into a juried gallery exhibit when first moving to a new town but the reaction from the viewers was just a passing "oooh" before quickly moving on - her puzzle hadn't found the right community.  I've concluded that I'm not too bothered about finding the right community, hey, there might not be such a thing out there - it's that light-bulb moment when the realisation hits you that you're not seeking recognition but merely perhaps just permission to carry on doing your own thing, in your own way and in your own time.  This has aided me to think a little differently about what I do in my little studio (there you go a quick change without me even realising - before it was my craft room!).  I'm on my own journey and I'd like the opportunity to record the twists and turns of the road and where it takes me.  Hopefully this will give some structure to what I do and how I do it so that I can finish projects, assess them and most importantly see where it leads me. 

I've also found that these thoughts are permeating into the rest of my life.  My job is difficult and frustrating most of the times with only some elements being rewarding - have I as the puzzle piece been thrust upon the wrong community?  Should I be in this job and if not what do I do?  Is there a way I can adapt to be able to survive and reach retirement age (a few years away yet)?  My hope is that my artful journey and the blogging of it (not sure I can use that word in that way!) helps me get through the darker days so that I may eventually retire.

Somerset Studio also includes some free papers and some bird pics to cut out and use.  This is what I've done with one of the bird and rose pictures.  I've also added some elements using the shrink plastic from The Stamp Attic.

I love the blue background on this tag  which I've stamped over with a map stamp from The Artistic Stamper.

An added Extra!

Whilst putting today's post together I found I had photos of some of things I've been doing lately but haven't posted on so I thought I'd share the pics with the world - just in case there's a comment left.

I love the blue on this tag - I mixed it up using blue, flesh and little yellow.  The bird was a freebie from a Somerset Studio magazine I bought from The Stamp Attic.  It's difficult to see but there are two flowers which have been created using shrink plastic.  Again, my first attempt with shrink plastic - not 100% but not bad either!

My mum's just had her 75th birthday and this is the card I did for her using some exquisite Japanese papers I received at Christmas.

This is a box (oat biscuits) which I did for my mum as well.  I thought it turned out quite well and it was interesting to see everyone's reactions to the photos as they hadn't been viewed together before.

Tuesday 11th February 2014

This weekend I've taken the plunge and signed up for a subscription to the Craft Stamper and have received the March edition.  Hels Sheridan's 'Happiness Is . . .' article caught my eye and particularly her lovely roses.  I headed over to her blogspot to see if I could catch her tutorial on how to make one of those roses.  Hels - thanks for the instructions - then I needed to check my stash to see what I could use.  The challenge being to use what I have and not just delay because I need to go buy something!

Things I found to use:
 1 x 5 petal flower stamp (a freebie from a magazine I bought sometime ago)
2 x Distress inks (love Tim's stuff and I'm building a nice collection
1 x Perfect Pearls Mis (Blue patina - the only one I have at the moment)
1 x heat gun
1 x scissors
1 x Glossy accents/PVA
5 x pegs
1 x pokey tool
 Here goes!

A quick pic of my desk and the work in progress.  Spy the first rose I did at the back.

Cut, distressed, pearl misted (lovely) - looking good so far.

All pieces cut according to instructions.

The glueing begins!

The finished article

Close up of the very first one I did - I was pleased.

And here's the final bunch of roses and flower that I managed to finish.  Thanks again Hels!