Monday 28 March 2016

Red and green should never be seen

I hope you have all had a Good Easter break and that Storm Katie hasn't kept you busy repairing damage to your garden fences etc. We have been lucky, our fences are still erect, though we seem to have gained some else's felt roof, and a bucket!
A few weeks ago it was my birthday and my fabulous family gifted me some spondoodlies to spend as I wish. So off to my favourite craft shop I went ( That's Crafty run by the lovely Laura) and filled my basket to my hearts content. However with life being life, today has been the first chance I have had to play. So, with a nice hot cup of tea and some Easter Eggs for sustenance I set myself up in my craft area (aka the kitchen table) and hey presto....my mind went blank! Drinking the tea and eating the chocolate didn't help so I had a browse of the various blogs and found that That's Crafty run a challenge, this months being Red and Green, so hey ho ......
I began by brayering a background with PaperArtsy Fresco paints (Hey Pesto, Guacamole, Tinned Peas and Cheesecake, then began building on the background  with various texture stamps and used a couple of bottle tops to stamp the larger circles. Using black Archival I stamped Dylusion Fancy Floral flowers and stems then filled in the gaps of of my dodgy stamping with a black pen and extended the stems until they joined in all the right places. I first painted them with the Fresco paints, and then I added shading with a selection of Polychromo pencils ( that you cant see because my photography skills are pants!). With great trepidation (wonky is my middle name) I stamped the quote (from Rogue Redhead Designs Floriculture) in black Archival (phwew it was reasonably straight) at the top. I wanted a bee for balance and to fit in with the quote, however the stamps I possessed were either too big, too small or the wrong style so I had a go at drawing one! Rather pleased with my squillionth attempt I painted him and cut him out (I shall name him Baldrick as I am watching Rowan Atkinson in Maigret as I am writing this and I keep expecting Baldrick to pop up with "I have a cunning plan"....) stuck him in place with Cosmic Shimmer and drew on his antennae that I accidently amputated while cutting him out! I edged the page with Forest Moss Distress Ink and then doodled around the edge with my black pen. I hope you like it and can forgive my ineptitude with the camera, and please be gentle about Baldrick!

Entered into the following challenges:

That's Crafty Red and Green should never be seen?
Moving along with the times
The Artistic Stamper Springtime

Saturday 12 March 2016

Hello

Hello to all my crafty friends ( all 3 of you!)
Today I have taken the big step/leap/dive into the world of Blogdom....scary. I am hoping I will remember  


  •  That I have a blog 
  •  To write something on it
  • To create things worth blogging 

Not sure what my chances are, but hey ho lets give it a go!
First a little about me......
My name is Debbie and I am happily married  to my soul mate (when you have finished reading that bit and chucked up into the waste paper bin please carry on) and we have 2 teenage sons, a Cocker Spaniel,  Saphy,  (who forgets she is a dog unless she is scaring the postman, eating purveyors of junk mail or chasing the other two inhabitants of the house) Wes and Bubbles,  cats, who are sisters and heartily dislike each other. Their dislike of each other is only matched by their hatred of Saphy!
I have been into crafting for the past 4 years or so and still class myself as a beginner, with so much to learn. I began with card making as so many do, and as time went on developed interests in Mixed Media and Journalling. I don't really have a 'style'  as I am willing to have a go at most things,from grunge to shabby, but I do like 'pretty' and my go to colour choices are cottage garden flower colours; pinks, purples, lilacs, blues, yellows and oranges. If there was one thing  in the whole world I could have, craft wise, it would most definitely be MORE TIME!  I have so many things that I want to try, or projects that I want to do, that when I do get a little time to myself I become so overwhelmed with what to do,  I generally go and have a coffee...then someone comes in and says "what's for dinner?" and I am back to square one. That is the main reason I didn't blog, as I wanted to "do" with the little time I have  rather that write about it! However, I have come to the conclusion that by having a blog, I can enter challenges more easily, therefore will be more focussed on creating...lets see eh?