May Art Draw – Flutterby!!

I know, it’s never been known, the Monthly Art Draw up on the first day of the month!! Well make the most of it, it may never happen again.
So what piece of whimsy have we got for you this month? Well it’s the little butterfly hanging that I was working on yesterday. The base is wood and the wings and handmade flowers are made of paper (no idea who by) and I have attached a string so it can hang although actually it stands up quite happily. 
Usual rules apply, if you would like to go in the draw please say so ON THIS POST before 9.00 pm on Saturday 31st May 2014. Please feel free to link from your own blogs and if you let me know you have I will put you in the draw twice. Overseas players welcome, make sure I have a way to contact you if you ‘win’. That’s it I think. Simples!

October Giveaway – Hang about, what do you mean I have to finish it myself?

Well only a little bit!!
Here it is, I have made a little door hanger using my Julie Nutting art dolls and some Papermania Capsule papers (Spots and Stripes Festive). Here’s one side:
and here’s the other.
But here’s the thing, I couldn’t decide what to write on it. So I thought rather than stress about it any longer the winner could decide what they want, so it could be their name, someone else’s name, ‘Keep Out’ or ‘Only enter if bearing coffee’ – you get the drift. I might even add a few flowers but I thought I’d  better hold off till I knew how long the word(s) might be.

A simple little make this month but hey, it is what it is and I have been busy. Will try and do something extra special for November. If you want to be in the draw, leave a comment here (with your desired captions if you have thought of them, but not essential) before 9pm on Sunday 27th October.


Overseas players welcome, and if you let me know you have posted on your own blog I will put you in the hat twice.
That’s all folks!!

Here AT LAST!! August Art Draw

I know there aren’t hordes of people waiting for me to upload my giveaway every month but I do hate to get behind schedule. But here it is, as promised, a handmade book/journal that you can record your innermost thoughts in, doodle or even just write the shopping list in. It’s up to you.

For the actual bookmaking process I used the tutorial here because after reading a few this was the one where it clicked. The cover style is very much a CASE of a Craft Stamper project but of course I can’t find it now. If it pops up I’ll give it credit. It essentially involves embossing folders and embossing powder to give a nice textural finish. The fancy fibres belong to a little bookmark I made to go with it.(BTW, I’m beginning to wonder if I ever really read these magazines, I’ve just flicked through about 7 lying around my craft room and am staggered by the number of projects I don’t remember AT ALL).

If you’d like to receive my efforts (be kind,it’s the first one I’ve ever made) then all you have to do is leave a comment to that effect on this post and I’ll pop you in the draw. International players welcome, and please feel free to link from your own blogs (I’ll put you in the draw twice if you tell me you have done so).
Because this is so late, I am so busy and there will be some time in the next few weeks when I won’t be around, this will in fact be the August/September Art Draw. The closing date will be 9.00pm on Sunday 22nd September.
Thanks for looking!!

May Art Draw - Belle of the Ball

As regular readers may know I have reported on two crafty catastrophes in the last few days - firstly, the intended item for the May Art Draw has inexplicably disappeared following a bout of tidying up. Now there's a lesson if ever there was one.

Secondly, the proforma shoe made in advance of my Steampunk Cinderella  project got squashed because I put a box on top of it. Accidentally of course. But all is not lost.

I am pleased to report that I have managed to rescue the squashed item and together with a couple of other rather fanciful additions it is now my offering for the May Art Draw. I have repaired the heel and altered the original design which was from a template from House of Zandra by adding a back to the shoe and lining it throughout (helped with the squashed bits lol).

Here they are in all their glory.

There is the reconditioned shoe (it really is fine!!), a fan, a little dance card and well, you might as well have the other flower. I'm thinking that some rather elegant young lady might be getting all prepared for a night of dancing and fun.  I suppose she won't get far with just one shoe (although Cinderella did OK in the end) but I didn't have enough paper (or patience) for two. The colour is a little questionable but the DCWV paper is sooo pretty and being ready glittered added a lot of bling with very little effort. The fan is made from scraps of leftover papers and I confess is not perfect. It also lacks the satisfying 'snap' of other fans I have made (also here) and is all form with no function, but I can only hope you'll forgive me this little piece of whimsy.

If you would like to have these for your very own (!!!) all you have to do is leave a comment on this post before 9.00 pm on Friday 31st May and I will put you in the draw. Overseas players are welcome and please feel free to link from your own blogs (if you let me know you have done so I will put you in the draw twice).

I hope you like this project, the Cinderella shoe was so well received I thought it might strike a chord. Now all I have to do is find the other project and we'll be all set for June!!









Challenges:

Anything Goes Challenge Blog - Challenge 92, Shaped but not square
Our Creative Corner - Anything Goes

April Art Draw - Beeswax Collage (aka Should have gone to specsavers.........)

Oh boy oh boy have I been loving watching Hels Sheridan on C & C this week. All credit to the station they really gave her a chance to give the meltpot a work out and show us loads of inspiring stuff. So, being the owner of a meltpot that has been gathering dust for over a year I thought I would have a go. Sorted out my bits and pieces, got all my materials ready, found the project pan, googled to check the temp for the wax, put the wax in, fired up the meltpot, started brushing my wax...........
er, that's not right, it's all sticky. What is going on?

Cue blond moment of mega proportions. (I blame the hairdresser, these highlights are supposed to hide my grey bits not my common sense).

Here is my pot of wax.

Except of course it isn't wax.

It's UTEE Flex.

Ooops. Don't do this at home folks.


Well, half an hour later we were ready to rock and roll again. and here it is. My little beeswax project inspired by Hels although almost certainly not as accomplished. (You really can't see the bits where I added the Flex.....)

This is the giveaway for April, if you want to be in with a chance of 'winning' leave a comment before 9.00 pm on Monday April 29th. International players welcome, please feel free to link from your own blogs (if you let me know you have I'll put you in the draw twice).

Thanks for stopping by!!

Challenges: Sunday Stampers

March Art Draw - Fly the flag!!

I did say I would upload this Thursday but I think I may just as well do it now and turn off  the pc - I'll only end up in a rush if I start playing on here in the morning!!

This month we have a piece I made last year but I think we still need to  be a bit patriotic every now and then!! It's a slide mailer made using stamps from the Indigo Blu 'Pomp and Circumstance' (I think that's what it's called anyway) stamp set. The stamping on this front section is a resist technique using brilliance ink on glossy card which was showcased in Craft Stamper Magazine September 2012. It gives a very nice finish.

For the inside I put a little bit of poetry and decorated with roses - well, she is an English rose after all!!

I was trying to see what I could with the stamp set so the back is more of the same and I masked the various images to get them all grouped together.

 This one won't take up a lot of space on your desk or shelf so if you would like a chance to win it then leave a comment here on this post to be included in the Draw. International players are welcome, please feel free to link from your own blogs (if you tell me you have done so I will put you in the draw twice).

Closing date will be 9.00 pm on Sunday 31st March.  Thanks for playing, see you soon!!
(Please don't worry if your comment doesn't show straight away, moderation is on and I may not be around to deal with it for a couple of days)
 

The February Art Drawing is lovely......

Well I had fun with this, even though it has taken me a week to put those 'finishing touches' to it.

Very little crafting time this week, work is starting to rev up and as usual I am woefully over committed. Must learn to say no....must learn to say no....must learn......

Anyhoo I digress. This month's offering is more crafty than arty and is once again an exercise in knowing when to stop. It is from an old Cosmo Cricket scrapbooking kit (love the papers!) and I thought it was about time I made up this particular piece. It is also not quite finished as you have to do that yourself - worked it out yet? It's an elaborate hanging picture frame (albeit for some rather small pictures) so you'll need to provide the piccies. It is quite large (each circle is approx 8" across) and not something I would be able to find space for in my home but might make a nice present even if you don't keep it for yourself.

If you want to be in the art draw then please leave a comment on this post. International players welcome, feel free to link from your own blogs (let me know and I'll put you in twice). We'll run this one until 9.00 pm on Monday 25th February.

And for those in the UK, a quick plug for National Libraries Day which is tomorrow. If you are lucky enough to still have a local library, use it or risk losing it. They'll be especially pleased to see you this week. This is not just because I want to keep my job, it's about the future of our society. Think on this, if all the libraries, with their considerable buying capacity, disappear and stop buying the printed word, at what point will it cease to be economical to publish books at all?  Do you only ever want to read books on your kindle or share a picture book with your child on a screen? Sorry, it is not the same. And don't think it won't happen. Printed newspapers are already under threat.

Rant over.

See ya soon and thanks for playing,
 

And the winner is.....

Shoshi. Have left you a message hun, thought I had your addy but can't see it anywhere (not renowned for my filing system).

Thanks everyone for taking part, looking forward to having another set of Timmy inspired tags to giveaway next January. How's that for forward planning?

Meanwhile, am putting the finishing touches to the February Art Draw.
Will be along early next week.

Here's a sneaky peek.


Back soon!!
 

You gotta have heart.... more Valentine stuff....

Just before Christmas a very dear friend I work with suddenly produced a huge stash of red buttons on cards and said - 'I saw these for a couple of quid in some shop and thought you could make something nice with them'. Sounds like a challenge!!

The buttons are nothing special, although judging by the cards they were on look quite old but not vintage. I had the large heart base in my stash (gifted by someone a while ago - netty? was it you?) but it's very thick and I wasn't sure about drilling holes through it (OK the truth is I am way too lazy to try and find my dremel) so I mounted it on a canvas and put a hanging string on that. The buttons looked really wrong 'naked' so I laboriously tied a little knot hrough each one - much better. I even got out my needle and thread again (this will not become a habit) to do the running stitch border. The heart looked a little boring with just the buttons, so I added a little fabric flower.  I'm not sure my friend was angling for a present but she's going to get it anyway. And I've still got a lot of those buttons!!


 

Quick reminder/final plug - last chance to enter the January Art Draw!! Click here to go the the relevant post. Closes 9.00 pm this evening.

January Art Draw - Twelve Tags Tim Style

This is the set you will receive

It's time for the January Art Draw which some of you may recall I said was going to be a set of twelve tags based on the Tim Holtz Twelve Tags of 2012. Wherever possible I have tried to follow Tim's tutorials and these are my take on the tags he made staying as true to the original ideas and techniques as materials and ability allowed. Some are fairly direct copies and others much more interpretive but I hope that you will like them. 

 A couple more photos in more detail. I don't think the February one with the heart was ever blogged as we I did it out of sequence. The same goes for The September Industrial Tag, really like how that one turned out.

 

 

 

The November tag in fall colours wasn't blogged either. I love my little pine cone!!

 

Just for completeness here is the set I am keeping for myself.

 

 

Yes, I can count, I know there is one missing. I was looking at it earlier and now can't seem to put my hand on it........

 

And finally here are my 11 tags displayed on a big split ring. I will be posting the winner's set out packed flat but I'll  include a ring so you can do this if you want to.  Sorry about the lengthy post but wanted to make sure you know what you are getting. So, if you would like this set of tags all you have to do is leave a comment on this post before 9.00 pm on Thursday 31st January 2013.

International players welcome, feel free to link from your own blogs (if you let me know you have I'll put you in the hat twice).

 

I really enjoyed making the tags, even if I did feel a bit under pressure at times and the payoff is I have a ready made giveaway item.  It's time to start the Tags of 2013 so if this is well received I may do the same for next year (Nothing like planning ahead is there.........).

 

Did you know this giveaway has been running since February 2009? Where on earth has all that time gone! So thanks to everyone who has supported me over the last 4 years (some of you have been here since the beginning!) and here's to the next ........ well, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves!!                                                

 

 

What's on Your Workdes Wednesday - #187

A great big mess is what.

Not very inspiring so I'm not even going to dignify it with a breakdown but I'm back, glad to be here and today is a play day, unless I spend the whole day on the computer visiting desks which is a possibility as I have been AWOL for a month.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, hop on over to Julia's and join in.

If you say 'hi' I'll return the favour.

HOPPY NEW YEAR!!!

And in the spirit of pure self promotion, can I prompt you to make a date to return for the monthly art draw which goes up tomorrow? I hope so!!

Twelve tags of 2012... almost there................

Nothing like leaving things till the last minute is there? Still I'm sure I won't be the only one!!

Right. Finally got a chance to mosey on over to Tim's blog to see what delights he had prepared  to inspire us in December. Two Christmassy tags to make up for the January one we'd left out - and why not, suits me I still have everything christmas out and to hand.

For the first tag I improvised with the background using a broken china distress stain but a silver paint dabber for the metallic effect. Worked a treat. For the snowman I fell back on my trusted Octopode digi which has been much used in Christmas cards this year, I really love him, he is just a little quirky (which appeals to me) but not so much that my card recipients would wonder if I'd been on the sherry. I didn't have tinsel but added a line of glitter.

My snowflake embellishments are made from a heavyish card and covered with silver enamelling powder from Debbi Moore. I stamped into it while hot with a medallion stamp - well, some worked better than others but the idea is sound. They look quite metal like and it gives them a nice texture. I say some because as well as the two of each tag I committed to do this year (one for me to keep, one to giveaway in the January Art Draw) I thought I would prove I had read all of Tim's post and use one to make a card. Yay, I'm ahead of the game already for my 2013  Christmas cards!!

The second tag looked similar to one I had already made using a different TH technique, the rusted enamel look. So this time I just did the one following Tim's technique and design because I already have this one to keep myself and was pleased for an excuse to put it with my set of tags.

Hope that makes sense!!

So here is the second of my Christmassy tags. Again I had to improvise a bit with my backgrounds (no metallic stains so used paint dabbers again - cool effect!!) and the embellishments but I think the finished tag looks OK (though perhaps not very Tim Holtzy).  This is the one which will go in the January Art Draw collection.

These two tags will get posted on the TO2012 post for December but I have missed most of them as I am always late for everything. I confess I still have 1 month's tags to finish but I won't upload any more now until the big reveal for the January Art Draw which I will post in a week's time on the 3rd of January. Hope to see you then!!

Quick Update: Thanks to all who sent good wishes, son's girlfriend now out of hospital so nothing to worry about - a great relief to all  of us!!

 

December Art Draw - Desk Calender

OK not entirely original for a new year but this month's Art Draw is very practical!!


Here are a couple of pages. There are 12 in total (just checking you are paying attention).


It's not that big so not much room for decoration - but on the plus side it won't take up much space on your desk!!

Usual rules apply, please leave a comment on this post if you want to be included in the draw. Let me know if you link from your blog so I can put you in twice. Overseas players welcome.

Closing Date will be 9.00 pm on Wednesday 26th  December (yes, Boxing Day) - hopefully I can get it to you before the New Year!!

And if you are in to giveaways check out that Crafty Individuals Blog Candy - got to be worth a go!!

Goodness it's December......... Time for the November Art Draw winner

which is Chrissie. I'm sure I should have your addie hun but can't find it so will message you. As soon as I get it I'll get the Christmas Wreath on it's way so you can actually enjoy it during the festive season!! Gosh, only 24 sleeps....... haven't done a thing yet!

December giveaway will  be along shortly!!

Cindy x

November Art Draw - A bit of Christmas spirit!!

Well I suppose we had to mention the 'C' word sometime soon! In an attempt to be more organised and get this month's offering out to the winner before the festive season is over, I have  a Christmas themed project for November.


The item in question is this festive wreath, much influenced by samples I have seen using Mr Holtz's dies. These ones however are from Marianne Creatables. The wreath is not very large, being about 8" across but hopefully someone would like this in their craft room or home.
 The art draw will run until 9.00 pm on Friday 30th November. If you want to play please leave a comment on this post to that effect - this will secure your name going 'in the hat'. Feel free to link from your own blogs and if you let me know you have I'll put you in the draw twice. Overseas players welcome but please make sure I have a way to contact you should you win as posting dates might be tight for overseas delivery.

I think that's all for now, and err.... merry christmas??
(Anybody know how many sleeps??)

Steampunk Dreams - October Art Draw

As promised, this month I am giving away this collection of 4 x 4 pages.

Therev are 6 pages in total and to see the whole selection go here. But for now here are just a couple more...

As usual, the Art Draw is open to all, and international players are welcome. All you have to do to be included is leave a comment on this post before Sunday 28th October 2012 and your name will go 'in the hat'. Feel free to link from your own blogs if you have the time and  inclination to do so - let me know and I will put you in the draw twice.

Thanks for playing!!

Steampunk re-visited

Earlier this year I had a bit of a steam punk vibe going on and started making some steampunk 4x4s to make in to a book.They've been languishing around the craft room on various stages of completion for months, but here are the results.

 

 

 

I did two of each design so I could keep one myself and give one away in the monthly Art Draw.

Here's my completed book. I'll save the other for now, although I will upload it for the October giveaway. To be honest it doesn't look that much different!! The current Art Draw is still running, go here for a chance to win. See ya soon.