A Little Birthday Book

This was a little mini book I made for Jo's birthday. I love how it turned out and it is fairly small and dainty. I used a page from a book which is over 80 yrs old and a colour catcher from the washing machine as the cover dyed with tea.

Paper Whimsy Fabric Arch Swap

I'm doing a swap on the Paper whimsy forum and it is to complete a fabric Gothic Arch with a charm - the charm is still in the thinking process but this is the arch which is 1 of 3.

The Paper Whimsy Forum have a bimonthly quote 5x5 challenge running from 30th March. The first quote is: If you cant teach me to fly, teach me to sing. I almost got it right LOL. I have used a distressed and collaged background with an acetate transfer on top, it came out like a gloss finish which I really like. It is then embellished and the paper whimsy image added. TFL.

Arte y Pico Award

Thanks to Jackie and Jo for nominating me for this award.

There are 5 rules attached to this and they are :-1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter what language.2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her/him the award itself.4. The Award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte Y Pico" blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.5. To show these rules.These are just five of the the very different Blogs I look in on regularly - all of them fun and full of all sorts of inspiration.

1. Jen Crossley

2. Ruth Rae

3. Viola

4. Nellie

5. Kaz

A Windy Day

I made this piece as Guest Artist for Its a Creative World , if you would like to know more about soot stamping I have a tutorial for the technique on their blog. Its a great site for all crafters - some lovely tutorials too. It also fits very well for this weeks Wednesday Stamper challenge of Trees. TFL.

Metal Etching

This is my first attempt at metal etching - another addictive technique. I recently bought a book called Semiprecious Salvage Its a great resource for making jewellery with found objects and some great techniques too. I havn't been able to put the book down since I got it and headed off to Dublin on Tuesday with a list of items to buy and try.

Here is my first attempt. I have another few in a bowl waiting to be released :-). Hope you like it and are inspired to try the same.

Just for me

Lá Fhéile Pádraig

Happy St Patrick's Day everyone - I hope you all can take time out to enjoy the celebrations.

This week's Gothic Arch Challenge was All Things Celtic and I felt I had to at least try to make something for it. This is a very quick effort, the image is one from the Book of Kells with various celtic stamps used around the edges with some copper foil, mesh and wire.

Enjoy your day.

Mini Journal

I found an article in a book The Art of Fabric Books by Jan Bode Smiley and it had a lovely little journal made of fabric. It is equally adaptable to paper so I have to admit to a small addiction to these journals. You will probably find at least one in every handbag, table, drawer or anywhere I need to make notes. I have a tutorial for the basic design of the journal on Scrapwest this week if you would like to give it a try sometime.

Here is one I did earlier :-) on blotting paper distressed with coffee and a few pages stitched together to make pockets. TFL.

More of my weekend creations

These tiles from Kelly Paper Crafts were created using pigment inks, lots of utee and alcohol inks, I love them and have decided to frame this piece. The black strip is a stirrer from the coffee shop (Audrey stole it!) with some wrapped wire and the lovely red stone was donated by Jackie. I think I could do a lot more of these for my walls.

craftjam weekend

I had a great weekend catching up with some wonderfully talented and creative friends Jackie , Audrey, and Mary (who has no blog unfortunately) on saturday and sunday. I had fun creating some soldered charms, here are my efforts. I managed to get lots more work started playing with utee, alcohol inks and paints, but have no time yet to complete them, hopefully over the next few days I can add some more. We also salvaged a lovely green wine bottle which we cut into several pieces, the label and the wine collar didn't go to waste either (nor did the yummy wine!!) TFL.

You make my Day Award

Thank you to Nellie for sending me this. I have awarded this to you- yes that is YOU reading this post - the fact that so many people visit my blog and leave lovely comments really does make my day and I would like to thank you all. :-)

Make a Moo or Two

Over on Make a Moo or two this is what you will find:

If you see my work more often you might know that I love travel as a theme. You can interpret this theme in so many ways, cities, countries, means of transport etc. Even on a little Moo you can travel around the world. So show us, what’s the destination of your journey this week?

I find working on this size challenging to say the least but I said I would try :-)

Wednesday Stamper - Valentine

This is my valentine card for my hubby and also my entry for Wednesday Stamper.

I also made this for a secret Valentine Swap for Jo

wednesday stamper - asia

This week at Wednesday Stamper the challenge is Asia. Its been a long time since I have made anything oriental and I have been searching my room for all my oriental stash and not having much luck. They are, probably all in a very 'safe' place LOL. TFL.

Wednesday Stamper - Charms

Charms are this week's challenge at Wednesday Stamper - lovely challenge. My photography is very off these days but I'm blaming the lack of daylight and my camera, nothing to do with my shaky hand. This is a piece of chipboard covered with glossy paper which has been distressed and some shimmering mists added and finally, Stamp Francisco face stamp. It is then covered with a piece of metal (wine bottle collar :0) ) I scrunched up the metal then covered it in alcohol ink, black stazon and then gold rub on paint, I then tore the centre to reveal the face. Charms were added as a finishing touch.

New Home Cards

There seems to be a lot of people on the move at the minute and I had sent these cards out on Monday for some of them. House is the theme too on Mixed Media Monday so these should be suitable for my first entry there.

The piccie was taken at night so the colours look quite dull compared to irl.

Handmade Felt

This is a little hanging I made for my sister who has just made a huge life changing decision in her life and I'm really proud of her. The quote reads 'In her heart she knew she was ready to fly'. This is also one of the first pieces of handmade felt I had made recently with some silk through it, I also stitched some beads around the edges. The centre panel is painted tyvek which I then stamped and stitched to the felt and added a little handmade cage over the heart and wings. TFL. I have some more pieces to add this week for some friends but will add after they receive them :-)

Wednesday Stamper - Keys

Wednesday Stamper Keys Challenge

Wednesday Stamper - Gothic Arch

The challenge this week at Wednesday Stamper is a Gothic Arch. I made this background by firstly staining a glossy card with coffee. I then distressed with inks and water and added acrylic paints to the edges.

I found this quote today on a calendar and I love it and wanted to use it.

You see things and say Why? I dream things and say Why not?

George Bernard Shaw