A Poncho and a New LO

Hello fellow bloggers. I know it's been over a week since I last blogged, but I've been frantically knitting little ponchos for my grandddaughters for Chanukah. My DD really wants them for her kids, but unlike me she's not prone to spending money on what she considers unnecessary fripperies. So crazy woman that I am, instead of going into a shop and buying ponchos which would seem the sensible thing to do, I purchase the raw materials and make them a design of my own. But you lot tell me if it wasn't worth it! I can't wait to see DD's face when I give them to her. And here's a picture to prove how super cute they are. The fringes took me longer to thread than the whole poncho took me to knit

In between all the crazy knitting I managed to complete a LO which I've been want to do since I took these pictures  last summer- 2010 so maybe that's summer before last. Anyway it's Sarah blowing bubbles and  I just love that look of concentration on her face.

For this LO I used a base of very pale grey bazzil, some sequin waste and lots of spray ink and glimmer mist. The pp at the side is from the Bo Bunny Peacock lane range as are the lollipop flowers and part of the title. I cut that branch out of the paper with my craft knife. Don;t ask what posessed me, I just though it'd be a good idea. I inked and distressed the edges of the flower circle, layered them and put some purple bling on the middle of each one. I hand drew those letters myself. I'd like to show that to my art teacher now, so there! The lilac and white gromlets curving round the photo are ancient and as I was poking around for some embellies I thought these would fit the bill perfectly and make a dent in my mountain of stash. I scratched the surface of them with my tim holtz scratchy thingy and then inked them with white and purple  ink. The rest of the title is AC white thickers painted purple as I didn't have any alphas in purple which I deemed suitable for the project.  Thanks for popping along to my blog

An Art Journal Page

Okay so I've braved the world of art journalling. I've always wanted to try it, but art journalling is something completely out of my comfort zone. I don't like not being in control and not being entirely sure what the end result is going to be. When I scrap a layout I don't stick anything down until all the elements are in position and I know exactly what the finished page is going to look like. I then carefully lift up corners of my work and stick them down so as not to move them. I have recently journalled straight onto layouts in preparation for my entry into the big wide world of messiness and I was very pleased with the result

So here is my first ever Art Journal page. I'm not really sure what I did, but I can tell you that I used Dylusions acrylic paints and sparay inks, loads of kitchen roll and a fair amount of gesso. I also made use of some buuble wrap which I had lying around from one of my many virtual shopping expeditions. The rings were made with the lid of a stick of glue and the feather is cut out of a magazine and painted over. I used some Tim Holtz stamps and hand wrote I'm taking flight. Thanks for coming over to look and I'd appreciate any comments especially the nice ones

A Birthday and a LO

Hi everyone. Today was my hebrew birthday and I must say I had a really good one. First I got some lovely letters from my DGDs written with some help from my sticker box (when I wasn't looking) and their mum. DD 1 made me a fabulous hand painted card and it was lovely getting post that wasn't bills. My sister in law took me out to lunch and  made sure I had all my favourites. But best of all, DD2 and her husband wrote a beautiful song especially for me. DD's husband is in music production so the song is really professional. It's a really personal song so I won't share it here, but I will tell you that it brought tears to my eyes and I've been listening to it all day and I've also set it as my ringtone.

Now I also have a LO to share with you. I've had this picture of Tzivi lying around for  a while and while I was digging at old pp's I found the perfect one to scrap it with.

 Tzivi insists on using this huge umbrella whatever the weather. DD gets really embarrassed but I told her she'll get her revenge when her kids are teenagers.
The diecut pp is a very old Websters Pages. I have no idea which collection it comes from, but it suited the photo perfectly. I used a base of pale yellow cardstock and some blue Best Creations glitter cardstock. I cut the diecut at the border of the floral pattern and plainer side, punched some holes with my crop a dile and threaded red ribbon through the holes. The photo went under the umbrella which I cut out with my craft knife. I added a strip of blue glitter paper and some blooms to the left hand side. The title and journalling are from a rhyme my children used to sing. I don't know where it comes from, but it was a perfect fit so I had to use it. Below you can see close ups of the ribbon and the rhyme. I also doodled in blue and red pen around the outside edges of the LO and around some of the scallops of the die cut

 The ribbon that I threaded between the two cut pieces of paper

This is the rhyme that continues on from the title. I used handwriting and some tiny sticker alphas to add interest.
Thanks for visiting

2 New Layouts

Today I want to share with you two layouts which I did yesterday.

 This one is a picture of my second granddaughter Estie. She's a right character and this picture of her with her hair blowing in the wind is one of my favourites. For this LO I used the Vicki B collection from Bo Bunny. My base is pale pink bazzil, I then cut a scalloped half circle from pp. For some reason I can't quite fathom, I decided to sew buttons all around the edges of the pp. I added some dark pink cardstock, a punched strip, and some cut out flowers which I adhered with foam squares to lift them off the page. I also added a lace rosette from the collection. Som rick rack a brad and a little trinket gives focus to the photo. I was also brave enough to doodle straight onto my LO. Aroud the edges of the pp I wrote words describing Estie's character and I also hand wrote and coloured part of the title. I've never been brave enough to do this, but I saw this technique in a book I recently bought and really liked it and I do like the end result, so |I'll probably be doing it again soon.

This one is a LO of my recently broken wrist with pictures of my hand casted up and straight after the cast came off. I wanted to scrap this as I want to remember to be grateful for my hands next time I see a pile of ironing I don't want to do. Also I had this crazy idea involving knitting needles.
In my quest to use up old stuff to make room for more, I have no idea which pp's I used. I just picked them out of my old stash drawer. I cut the pp's in to all sorts of random shapes, inked and distressed the edges and then hand stitched around all the edges of all the pp's. I added some layered stars cut out of one of the pp's and then randomly stamped over the page. On the left hand side I cast on some stitches and on the right hand side I knitted a little patch and then cast off. I stuck the needles down at their heads with a drop of glossy accents and then secured them with some more stitching. Some flower centres on the stars and the title finish off this LO. Thakns for looking

A new toy, A Layout and a skirt

I have a new toy. It's a smart phone, and I have wasted loads of time on it this weekend. I've played and dowloaded and played and downloaded...... well you get the general idea. As if I don't waste enough time already I've now got another excuse. But who cares, I'm having fun and that's the main thing.
In the mean time I did manage to do a LO and you can see it below:

 This LO was inspired by some of my favourite designers icluding Gabrielle Polocco, Tamoko (I don't remember her surname, sorry)  and Rachael Elliot. It wasn't really one particular layout that inspired me, but  they took away my fear of ink ad also of cutting and tearing my favourite papers.
For this LO I used the My Minds Eye, Lost and Found 2 Blush collection. It has the most luscious glittery amazing papers and embellishments and I really love it. So I took a pink bazzil and used a mask and some glimmer mist on it, then I cut one of the pp's into a scalloped circle using an old diecut pp as a stencil. I cut some of the misted flourish and flipped it over the circle. The paper circles were made by tearing some of the pp's into thin strips and rolling them. On the left corner of my circle I cut out a piece, punched some holes and threaded some bakers twine which I inked with distress ink. The title is doe with ivory thickers which I also inked up with distress ink. I really enjoyed doing this LO and I thank all the fabulous designers for inspiring me.

This morning I sewed a skirt for Sarah. You know she just takes my sewing her stuff completely for granted. She points to a picture of something, says she wants it, and I just make it for her. I love sewing so I really don't mind and the hugs I get make it totally worth it.

 The colouring doesn't show up very well on the picture, but its, grey with pink checks. Its a gathered skirt with 2 layers of ruffles and it took me under 2 hours to make it. Sarah really likes it and can't wait to wear it. Thanks for popping over to visit.

2 beyond the page projects

Hello again
Today I have to kaisercraft beyond the page altered items to show you. The first is the birds wreath,

For this project I used the stupendous Gabrielle collection from Bo Bunny. I covered all the pieces with the paper, and painted tthe sides with acrylic paint dabber. I added some embellies and the word across the middle very roughly translated from Hebrew means good morning. I then sprayed it all over with some Crafters Companion iridiscent sparay and sparkle to give it some shine. The stuff has a really strong smell and gave me a nasty headache for a while but the effect is brilliant. You can't really see it on the photo, but it fiinishes it off beautifully.

My secod project is the kaisercraft star wreath

 This one was made using a combination of Fancy Pants, To The Moon collection, and Bo Bunny's Blast off collection. Again I covered all the stars with the paper and painted the sides. After that I added the embellishments ad the wording means, May the angels be with you, well it more or less means that. It's a little prayer we say every night before we go to bed. On this one I used the multicolour spray and sparkle and it smells just as strong as the iridiscent one.
My Children love the finished projects and are absolutely chuffed that I decided to hang them in their bedroom.
Thanks for stopping by

Zentangles

Hey there
I'm trying to get myself into art journaling. Now I know it's a free form of messy art with lots of inks and paints. To give me the courage to explore my freedom someone over at UKS (thanks Nipper) introduced me to zentangles. I'd never heard of it so off I went and googled it, and I liked what I saw. So there I was withe a 6 x 6 square of white paper and a black fineliner. I started doodling and found I was really enjoying myself. My hand more or less flowed by itself and I came up with something I really like. You can see it below. I think I'll make an inky glittery frame for it and hang it above my craft table as my tentative entry into art journaling. And thank you everyone over at UKS for your encouragement. Thanks for visiting.