MAMMA CHALLENGE - MATRIMONY.........

Wanted to get in quick with this week's MAMMA Challenge - as I usually work Thursday and Friday I find it very hard to join in if I don't do it in the early part of the week. In fact my main crafting days are probably Sunday and Monday so not getting the challenge till Monday is very frustrating!!



My entry for this week's theme 'Matrimony' started off as a simple churchy arch idea, but when thinking about what words I could add to make it a little amusing it seemed to grow a bit..... once again the end result is also pushing the boundaries of what might be considered the right size for an ATC but I do love dimensional stuff.

Basically we start off with the outside of the ATC. I have used some metal that I put through my cuttlebug having bought a new embossing folder (Divine swirl) at Ally Pally on Saturday (err, thanks for asking, no that was NOT the only thing I bought lololol though hubby and bank manager probably wish it was). I saw a brilliant gothic arch project on the LB Crafts stall (realised afterwards that I had been talking to Ms PA herself, doh) and I bought the blank to have a go 'cos not sure I can make the actual workshop and I WANT ONE. It has all sorts of yummy metal stuff on it so this is me practising again. Still I digress. Back to the ATC - Before we open the doors to the 'church' we pull out a 'slider' to reveal a question. "which 2 words make the longest sentence in the English language?"



Yes, you guessed, it is going to be a rude comment on matrimony. Opening the doors reveals the answer and we can see our bride and groom behind bars for the rest of their natural.

But because I am basically a big old romantic at heart and have been with my OH since I was 19 and married for 18 years, the 'prison' lifts up to reveal the happy couple, all smiles and loved up.



I really am a fan of Matrimony, lolololololol.

But, as they say, you get less for murder. (I'm JOKING!!!!!!!)

And yet another friendship book....

You may recall I said there was another friendship book to post - this was for my friend Sherry who loves vintage sewing. Unfortunately, I don't really have any sewing stamps or 'bits' so instead I did a collage book using some vintage actress images. I had pulled them together some time ago for another challenge but as so often happens I never actually had time to put them together. Sherry has now returned from her holiday and seen this so I can post the pictures for all to see.


I also see from my messages that I've been tagged although I have no idea what that means. Will have to email joey - who I met on Saturday, more about that later - to find out!!

More Journal Pages

Desperately felt the need to catch up on these - self inflicted pressure because there is no real end date as such, I just need to complete things whilst I'm still enthusiastic or new challenges start to beckon.........



This one is for Astrid, the instigator of this particular Round Robin Journal and her theme is 'Children of a Bygone Age'. The flash has caught the metal letters, it actually says 'Home Entertainment'. I was amused by the image of these two kids having great fun with this miniature keyboard, and it brought to mind the idea of High Tea on a Sunday and having to do your party piece for the relatives. Cringe!!(You didn't have to do that? ......My, I am old, perhaps I should have just used a picture of myself). But there's not a cable or a controller in sight and they look like they're having a great time.



The second page for this challenge is for Femmy, with the theme of outside. I struggled with this one for a while, but decided that as the 'Garden Gal' I had better go with what I know best. A mix of stamping and collage which I wasn't quite sure would work but I'm quite pleased with the finished result. And doesn't she look happy!! Makes me want to pop on my purple jumpsuit and rush right out there....

It's all going swimmingly.........

A change of pace as I try to catch up with Astrid's Round Robin Journal. This page is for Heidi, and is a re-working of an idea I had while I was in Spain earlier this year. It's quite simple, but reflects an area that I am exploring in my artwork at the moment. Please excuse the pretension of that last remark, but I do seem to get obsessed by a certain technique or style and have to work through it to get it out of my system. The only thing is, I realised when I had nearly finished that the last thing of mine Heidi had sent to her for a swap was a mermaid too. She will think I'm obsessed, but I'm not - only in so far as I like all things slightly fantastical and I love the colour!! I do wonder if it is really suitable for a journal page and if it wouldn't look better as a wall hanging but hey ho, I've done several now with clay bits and nobody has moaned yet, though how big their finished books will be is anybody's guess!

Happy Birthday Yvonne!!

The third in my little series of friendship books I made for Yvonne whose birthday it is today. I've gone for softer colours and a bit of an angel theme but I've only got so many stamps so a couple of clowns seem to have crept in as well lol... I did repeat some of the layout I used for Jan's book but I think that overall it does look different. Hey ho, one more to go, wonder who that is for?

And now for something completely......

the same. Well not really, the same principle but quite different in style. This concertina book was made for Sian's birthday. I added a little clay 'doll' to the front cover and used a different set of stamps, so the whole thing has a different look to the one I made for Jan. I know she likes it 'cos she has already said, but have left off posting it here until I knew she had received it.

Birthday treats - Mini Concertina books

Last week I suddenly realised I had some birthdays of special cyber friends coming up and thought I might try something a bit different from the usual ATC BRAK. I saw an article in craft stamper magazine on making a little friendship book with stamping and masking and it reminded me that I had several minibook blanks that I purchased over a year ago and had never got around to using, as well as a load of new stamps that I needed to try out - the perfect excuse!!



This is the first one which I made for Jan. I had great fun doing this (I made a few practice ATCs trying out the technique and stamps as I didn't want to mess it up). I have never attempted a project with quite so many stamps and was a bit heart in mouth that I would make a mistake any moment but overall I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. Even cracking the UTEE on the two covers turned into a happy accident as it gives it a kind of vintage/distressed look. Having said all that it was really pretty easy to do once I had decided on the colours and stamps to use.

Hope you had a good day Jan!!

Keeping up...

no not appearances, just keeping up with everything that needs doing. Because I kind of got in to the sketching thing on holiday, I decided I would like to do more drawing and sketching, not least because I'm finding the daily art cards quite a strain to do as collaged, stamped and embossed etc etc etc ATCs so though I might change how I approach the DAC challenge. I am determined not to give up! However, I am in a dilemma at the moment because having taken on additional hours at one job, my garden design seems to be picking up (weird, bad summer and recession, not a situation you would think could fuel a growth in the landscaping sector). Taking on all the jobs I've been asked to do would seriously curtail my art time. What's a girl to do?

So......... in the interim I bought a really cheap sketch book, so at least I can complete my DAC challenge easily and keep all my sketches in one place. But because it was a really cheap one with a horrible bright blue cover I spent two really pleasant evenings this week covering the front and back with a selection of collage images. I was quite pleased with the results and it's something now I like to turn to. Of course another reason is that I will be able to find it - in a house which is completely covered in notebooks and paper things have to stand out!!