Kate Creates

365 journal and February swap

2012-02-05T13:06:00.000Z

Oh dear! Hangs head in shame - late with my 365 journal for month one and no good excuse.

Here is the page ready to start - only small and I'm being ad hoc again so I have made entries but just not managed to take the finished picture yet. It will be along soon.

In my defense February is started and has the ubiquitous snow entry already!!!! And I've also done my postcards - letters C and D - for the monthly alphabet themed swap. Just as well really as I scalded my hand last Wednesday and it is very painful at the moment. These are the fronts.

And these are the backs.

January swaps

2012-01-22T22:01:00.000Z

Last year (during my blog black out) I took part in an art swap where we made odd sized art. Essentially this was like making and swapping ATCs except that the size of our "canvas" was roughly a sixth of an A4 sheet - to fit into a ring binder wallet with six pockets.

Once we had all filled six spaces with swapped work we realised that another six pieces were required to display through the backs of the pockets so we are making more to swap in January and February in two sets of three.

Here I have made two using gel medium to transfer images on to a sprayed walnut ink background. I did make a third (well the first try actually) that went a lot wrong.

As a result I used some more of the background and old sewing patterns to make the third and a reserve just in case.

In 2012 we are also doing a monthly postcard swap with an alphabetical theme. For January we are making two double sided cards themed on A and B. I'm hoping, though it hasn't been mentioned yet, that when we get to the tricky ones like X,Y and Z we only need do one side! That way we should get all letters done in 2 months too.

Here is my ecclectic mix of things inspired by A and B. First a mixed media abstract - does what it says on the tin.

And on the reverse some good old fashioned plain stamping.

And for B a some ink blots and collage elements.

And more collage on the reverse with some stamping thrown in.

12 days of Christmas

2012-01-02T12:10:00.001Z

I belong to a wonderful group of crafters who swap work and various themes throughout the year and every year we do a 12 days of christmas swap which involves each of us making 12 of the same item. Our marvellous coordinator then makes up a parcel for each participant with 12 different gifts from each of the other participants.

This year I made tag calendars and Christmas tree ornaments to send.

And in return I got 3 very beautiful and different brooches...

Three clever and useful stationery items: a note book, desk calendar (with drawer that was full of chocolates) and a magnetic post it note holder now displayed on the side of my fridge...

Two lovely crafty books, one to hold ATCS and the other with pages each showing a useful prompt to kick start ideas for projects...

And three amazing stitched creations, a purse, a seasonal book mark and a case which I shall use for one of my many pairs of glasses.

Huge amounts of thanks go to the very talented artists who created these beautiful gifts for me.

Some of my work next time as evidence I haven't really done absolutely nothing during my blogging blackout.

Resolution number 1

2012-01-02T11:38:00.000Z

As 2011 ends I was sitting guiltily at the PC trying to remember the techy bits of blogging after such a long absence, and yes I know I only have myself to blame... and it has taken me another couple of days to get round to transferring pictures from my camera so not a great start!

However, full of good intentions, New Year Resolution 1 starts now with a massive catch up and confessions of failure ready to start 2012 with a clean sheet or in the case of 365 journalling a modest sized Moleskin notebook with watercolour paper pages. Perhaps working smaller will make it easier to keep up.

So to get the confession out of the way first - I haven't finished my 365 journal, by which I mean I haven't journalled since September although I did make all the lovely inky backgrounds ready. I really struggle with the journalling part anyway and by the end of the year I just didn't feel that writing more of the same about day to day activites and grumblings about various bad stuff going on was what I wanted to do.

I'm blaming my decision to go freestyle on such large pages. It was always going to be hard to fill the space so I resolve to try again on a smaller scale and try to keep going in 2012.

So whilst I get started here is the evidence of last year's almost done pages.

Play Day

2011-07-11T20:20:00.000+01:00

On Saturday I had a fabulous time at Art From the Heart. I spent the whole day playing with paints and inks getting very messy. My fingernails will never be the same again! They are already weak and feeble but now seem to have absorbed significant amounts of Dyan's Dylusions inks and are stained round the edges in conspicuous shades of blue and green.

We made books starting with cream card and some lined file paper as the basic materials but using different techniques to decorate them first.

We used Dyan's paints in two ways: first rubbed, spread and stamped on like this...

With a splatter of mica spray bling at the end.

And then we painted great big blobs of watery paint and let them run about on the page.

Plenty of white space left for jurnalling soV scary and not my favourite!

Then we sprayed inks. There is just something about this - once you get started it is impossible to stop. Every available surface gets coloured (and my slippers and sleeves although not on this particular occassion).

And finally Dyan's ghosting technique also with ink sprays.

See her video of how to do this here.

Finally we glued all the folded papers back to back to create a book to journal in. Hmmm, I don't think so. Although I may get round to doing some doodling in it I am slow enough at getting a page a month sorted out in my 365 day journal.

This is what the "completed" book looks like.

Where does time go?

2011-07-04T20:47:00.000+01:00

It's true what they say then, that time passes more quickly the older you get. I have no idea how half the year has gone by already - I blinked and missed it.

Still running behind with my 365 journalling - June isn't finished but at least here is the page at the start of the month all summery ready for the nice weather that has eventually arrived.

And because splodging and squirting is so much easier than writing July is miraculously ready to go before June is done! I am feeling suitably delinquent for procrastinating on the diffucult and playing with ink instead. We have lots of fledglings of various sorts feeding in the garden at the moment so this birdie theme was a must.

And here is another inky diversion. I made this little canvas for my son to take to Taiwan to exchange as a gift with is counterpart in the University Orchestra. Because red and gold are percieved as bringing good fortune I based the colour scheme around those colours and added the word music in English and Chinese symbols with gilding foil.

Unfortunately the planned joint concert arrangements fell through at the eleventh hour so he has decided he will keep it instead.

Busy but somehow not getting on with things

2011-06-28T20:21:00.000+01:00

I am once again in that funny frame of mind where instead of getting on with things I have set myself to be completed I am procastinating by signing up to join in all sorts of additional crafty swaps. A lot of it has to do with my mind being busy with "real life" things. Today for example one of my team at work who has been with me for seven and a half years has taken voluntary exit under the public sector reductions. I have mixed feelings - we will miss her greatly but she has taken the oportunity to set up her own business to fit in with her lifestyle as a single mum of an adopted little girl and I can't help but admire her for having a game plan and acting on it. Way to go Julie!

And on Thursday we head South to take my son to Heathrow. He is going to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau on a concert tour with the National Youth Wind Ensemble so we are all very proud and despite the break from teenageness (he is 14 and more than a bit like the Harry Enfield character Kevin at times) it is far different from his recent school exchange to France where I could if necessary hop the channel and rescue him - from what I don't know - to going to the other side of the world.

So I've been cutting myself slack and opting to do some quickand easy stuff like these black and white ATCs.

These "Games" themed ATCs proved more difficult than I had thought. I didn't start them until the last minute, somehow I just couldn't get to grips with what I thought was an easy theme. However the football season isweeks away but in our house there is constant checking on Ceefax for the latest transfer news. Far more annoying than actually watching the ads in programmes but equally inspiring for a different take on the games theme. Dug out old stamps that got lots of use several years back for little boy's brithday cards.

And finally for now, a background paper made for another swap with lots of messy ink sprays, old book pages and gesso.

I will have to make strenuous efforts now to get my 365 journal upto date - likely to be into next week though before I catch up!

You'd better sit down...

2011-05-29T19:40:00.000+01:00

I'd hate the shock of finding a new post to cause any accidents, and this is likely to be quite a long one given how long it is since I last posted!

One way or another I've been if not always too busy, then too preoccupied with other matters to get creative for a while. I've had serious ill health in my family (which continues but I am coming to terms with), redundancies and changes to job profiles and terms and conditions at work and my son doing his first GCSE papers all going on at once so my mind has been a bit all over the place.

I'm glad to say though that I'm starting to do a bit of crafting again and have kept going with my 365 day journal, although a bit sparse with entries. So here by way of a catch up...

My March page in spring colours and we did have some daffodils but not many other flowers by then.

April is music themed for no other reason than I liked the bright colours and have quite a few music related crafty bits because my son is a keen musician.

May in the early stages. I have to confess I had a blitz at the beginning of May to catch up a bit and then have fallen behind on the actual journalling. I will add some more over the long weekend though and get ready for June.

Also since I last posted I have made ATCs and a row of houses for swaps, and been tinkering with a few other projects that are work in progress too. Much to the annoyance of my partner and son the entire kitchen is permanently completely covered in craft stuff whilst I potter for short periods each day trying bits out, rearranging pieces etc.

The ATC swap had a music/dance theme. My partner sent me very elegant ballet themed ATCs in soft colours and decorated with lace. (Note to self I must get round to taking pictures so I can share with you). I hope my jazzy bright musical offerings weren't too much!

The row of houses swap required the use of a button somewhere in the design. These swaps are great fun because you get 5 houses back, one from each of 5 swappers so they are all very different. You can tell I still had the same stuff out in the kitchen when I made these because some sheet music crops up again. These were entirely constructed with materials that were selected at random from what I already had out in the kitchen. The dots on the roof are stamped with bubble wrap and coated in Matte Accents. I don't know why but I do not get on with that product. Often the result is shiny not matte and if I am heavy handed in application it sometimes dries wrinkly. I didn't mind here as I had no definite plan and just wanted texture. I added more texure too with stalks made from painted string.

Pinch, punch, white rabbits etc

2011-03-31T20:00:00.004+01:00

Friday saw the start of a new month and hopefully Spring proper. At last we have frog spawn in the pond, more daylight and sunshine and there are lambs in the fields. More excitingly though, Friday saw the launch of the Craft Stamper magazine e-zine. Containing 12 favourite step by step projects from 2010 as voted by readers, this e-publication is available free to download. Click on the image below to go to the magazine web site and take a closer look.

February finshed

2011-03-05T19:15:00.008Z

Almost there with my catch up now!

Here is my February page completed. I forgot to say before, the typed quotes on each page are lines from Flanders and Swann's take on Sara Coleridge's poem The Months. March ready to start will be along soon - I just need to summon the energy to learn how to retrieve things from the new external hard drive to post the piccie.

Also in February I did a 3 for 3 ATC swap with the theme "abstract" which is fabulous for using all those experimental bits and pieces and off cuts from other projects. The first three below are the ones I sent to my swap partner on time but which somehow became separated from their envelope en route so she only got the envelope and a note from the PO! The bead bit on the first one makes me think of a headless giraffe - very wierd I know and unintentional when I put the glue on.

This set are the replacements I made which are waiting to be addressed and posted - with lots of extra glue and sellotape to make sure thet stay in the envelope this time.

AWOL

2011-03-03T19:09:00.006Z

A big hello to anyone reading this who has come back to visit despite such a very long time with no posts.

Since Christmas I haven't had a whole lot of time for crafty things and just when I was getting my 365 journal page for January ready the PC had a breakdown (and quite frankly at times I felt like joining it!).

Happily, after a stay in pc hospital, a return to factory settings and the very slow process of getting things installed again we're back in business so to speak.

First here is a picture of January completed.

And another of February ready to start.

I'll post again later with the end result.

A New Year and a New Arrival

2011-01-12T22:26:00.006Z

2011 has begun and I have prepped pages in my enormous A3 note book ready to start a new year in the 365 journal challenge. (Do go to The Kathryn Wheel to find out more.)

But this year I am determined to break rules. Obviously - I hope! - not the legal and ethical ones which make for a civilised society but the many which I have in my own head. For example this year I won't use squares in straight lines for my 365 journal. I've decided to go a bit freestyle and write randomly on the page. I might well go further and not even write something for every single day. I'm sure I will in fact simply work to another set of rules on this and other projects but a change is as good as a rest, or so they say.

Anyway, here is my January page ready for writing.

And here is the new arrival refered to in the title - Huckleberry. We got him on bank holiday Monday so he is still very timid and more than a little manic in his new home, but very cute and amusing and a diversion from getting on with things, hence the late start with my journal.

It occurs to me that I never posted last December's page when finished: so just to prove that I did in fact finish what I started (unlike all the bags of half knitted jumpers and other partially completed projects behind the sofa) here is a wonky snapshot as evidence.

12 days - part two

2011-01-05T22:36:00.010Z

Here is installment two of the wonderful gifts I received in the 12 days of Christmas swap...

A machine embroidered needle case from Wendy in shimmery subtle colours. Pretty and useful - I will stitch more in 2011.

Fiona also did some clever fabric work, making this glorious brightly patterned purse.

From Annie, a fabulous embroidered felty covered note book - looks and feels almost like tree bark and moss.

Lyn sent me this bejewelled decorated candle - too nice to light.

This ray of summery sunshine is from Jessie to take my mind off the horrid snowy weather. Scrummy texture on the frames and diddy shells to embellish although flash glare is hiding them in this shot.

This mega paper clip from Liz, with a wonderful large and glittery snowflake tag to hang on the tree as a bonus.

And these little faces peeping are the crazy cats I made, waiting to be wrapped and posted.

I want it to be Christmas again now so we can swap some more!

12 Days of Christmas - part one

2011-01-01T13:34:00.015Z

Whilst 12th Night might not strictly be upon us yet, in our 12 days of Christmas swap we started opening gifts to finish on Christmas day(ish). So, now everyone has seen all their pressies, it won't be spoiling the surprise to show you what we all got....

A polymer clay brooch from Mawgan - very festive but sadly delicate and fragile so it didn't survive the postal journey in tact.

A mixed media brooch from Claudia.

and a metal on card brooch from Hilda who parcelled it in a box cleverly folded from sheets of paper.

Next a pendant made from a domino from Jean.

and a friendly plastic necklace from Pauline. I won't be caught wearing the same thing twice this season!

And finally for this installment, an altered photo frame from Adrienne, with lovely texture and in her trade mark copper and turqouise colours.

Blog giveaway

2010-12-30T19:35:00.002Z

Just the quickest of posts to say pop over to Linda's blog and you can enter a give away to win Tim Holtz goodies - and see her beatuiful art work too of course.

I'll be back over the long weekend with 365 journal updates - 2010 is nearly finished (well the journalling bit anyway) and I'm already thinking about a 2011 format.

Sometimes real life gets in the way

2010-12-12T16:53:00.006Z

I've been falling further and further behind on crafty things of late. Pressure of the day job has been increased by the bad weather multiplying my normal hour each way journey and by long term and unexpected serious illnesses in the family detracting from time and inclination to create pretty things. As a result I don't have much to share just now.

I've been working on a 12 days of Christmas swap where all the participants make 12 of the same gift, send them to the coordinator who packages them up with one of each item to a parcel and sends each player a set back. We open these one each day in the run up to Christmas and because we don't know what each of us in opening it is a secret what we have made until everyone has opened all their parcels. You'll need to come back after Christmas day to see what I've been up to.

I have just about kept going with my 365 day journal challenge.

My completed pages for October and November are here - not wonky in real life just in the super quick snap shots:

And my December page ready to start (well nearly) is here:

If you'd like to keep a journal like this next year check out the wonderful Kate Crane's article in the new issue of Craft Stamper magazine for step by step instructions and inspiration.

Missing in action

2010-11-04T21:37:00.004Z

I've been getting more and more behind somehow. I'm in one of those weird places where I've got too many things going on and can't quite apply myself to any of them properly.

So in a bit of catch up mode here are a whole series of snippety updates. None are in the state where I am really happy with them but if I don't make myself move on I think I might be somehow stuck for ages yet. Anyone else out there get periodically stuck in creative limbo?

So here goes...

My six month stint on The Altered Element design team officially ended in September but I never posted about my last project because by messing about with an order (all my fault) I got the goodies late. Lynne sent me a dear little jar of buttons which is too cute to open,

and a papier mache urn which has been haunting me. It is still work in progress but I've has lots of fun experimenting with Viva paints to get tons of texture on the surface.

I discovered by accident that if you put water based ink over a gesso base and then apply Croco crackle paint (to cover up what didn't turn out how you wanted) that the cracks reveal the white base and the colour is drawn into the glass like cracked surface. Still thinking what to do next - it might end up filled with chocolate coins at Christmas.

My 365 day journal challenge page for October got journalled on time but I still haven't managed to put the October title on it. November has journal squares but again no title and no journalling yet. Must try harder.

I made a couple of jewellery items for swaps this month. A bracelet using up more grunge paper charms like those posted for an earlier DT challenge and a pendant with a fabric paper cameo. Unfortunately by the time I'd sent myself doolally embroidering miniscule french knots I was up against the deadline so didn't get chance to take piccies.

And finally, the Christmas issue of Craft Stamper magazine will be hitting the shops tomorrow and it is a belter, crammed full of gorgeous and inspiring projects. Kim Costello's Masterclass on making buttons is totally brilliant and Kate Crane's bright and alternative decoration is fabulous too. And that is just for starters, you really must take a look.

Is it just me?

2010-09-30T20:39:00.006+01:00

Or do other people get that "exam avoidance syndrome". You know, the one where you have something important with a deadline and instead all those things you never ever do suddenly have to be done.

When I was studying for my accountancy exams the oven only ever got cleaned when I was supposed to be revising.

This week the arrival of my son's French exchange student partner required the urgent clearance of my craft "toys" from the spare room into storage boxes so instead I got lots of stuff out and made little houses for a swap not due until 3 weeks after he leaves.

Here are the houses in question which had to be autumnal in colour scheme and include a face. I used scientists - I find I often revert back to science and engineering subjects - I somehow liked the contrast of black and white pictures with the organic looking backgrounds made with kitchen towel, doylies, ink spray and oil pastels.

I must go stand in the naughty corner now!

Catching up slowly

2010-09-30T20:23:00.003+01:00

At last my August 365 challenge pages uploaded. These are the ones that were ready on time (honest - but the old adage pride comes before a fall is obviously true, I must have been a bit too pleased with myself) but got held up by technological hitches.

And here is the almost finished September page. I got a bit left behind on the journalling and had to make myself go back and fill in the sparse patch at the last minute or I'd have lost it completely. It is still missing the days of the week headings but I will add them when I put the titles onto October. I think I was getting ahead of myself colourwise though - this seems very Autumnal for September.

And here is October - not quite but nearly ready to go.

Failed again!

2010-09-24T21:36:00.002+01:00

Having got myself completely upto date with my 365 day journal challenge by the end of August I then hit another technical snag - battery flat and then memory card full - so I couldn't post the evidence straight away.

I then forgot about it for a while and got a sudden reminder when I met the wonderful Kate of The Kathryn Wheel with her daughter at the Great Northern Papercraft Extravaganza. Needless to say I still haven't had a chance to get sorted - there are just too many distractions and temptations to fill any spare moments I have.

Here's just one...

Jill and her DT colleagues at The Stamp Man have a fabulous challenge running at the moment, and even better than that they are running a blog hop with super candy in conjunction with it. Do take a look at the letters they have altered - starting from here..... and hopping along. It will save you from housework for ages!

I will try really really hard to catch up on posting over the weekend - it will be like buses, none for ages then 2 or 3 at once (again).

Part 2 - what to do with the left overs and another interesting experiment

2010-08-27T09:25:00.014+01:00

Here are some more ideas using virtually the same techniques with clay, stamps and mica powder to use up the offcuts and disasters.

First, whilst you have most clay left, roll it up into a ball and press it to flatten a little with the palm of your hand. Then take a texture plate, lie it on top and carefully roll over it ONCE to make a patterned surface and to press the clay thinner. I'm sure this is probably not the recommended approach but it is super quick and easy and provided you don't roll repeatedly backwards and forwards you get a clear pattern.

I used a Sculpey texture making plate, but stamps with a background or script pattern are good and with improvisation you could use a Cuttlebug embossing folder too.

I generally cut the patterned clay into random shapes like tags and rectangles before colouring so they don't all have to be the same colour. These make useful embellishments to have on hand for cards and projects. In the example below I have cut a square to fit a papier mache frame to make a Christmas decoration. These frames a cheap and great fun. They have an aperture on both sides so as well as using remnants you could really go to town with Christmas stamps to make the clay pieces. The result is not very heavy and so suitable to hang on the tree. (Yes I know - it is too early to be talking about Christmas.)

I used green mica powder on the clay as before and then after baking it I rubbed a bit of gold (Krylon pen) with my finger over the raised pattern to emphasise it.

If you don't already have alphabet stamps, cookie cutters and texture plates this starter kit from Walnut Hollow is a neat way to get started - and comes with a box to keep everything in its place.

The alphabet pieces are designed to slot into a small handle with even spacing between letters - and there is a blank if you need to leave a space. It is quick and not too fiddly to use. The main challenge is to remember to assemble the pieces with the word and letters backwards. Working with individual letter stamps is easier in some respects because you spell as you go, but putting the whole word together first helps with sizing and centreing.

Here is an example. You can make little personalised tags, embellishments and add wording to larger projects in this way.

And finally, when you are down to the smallest ball of left over clay, roll it in your palms into a sphere and then press it with your thumb onto a texture mat or background pattern stamp to make a little button shape.

You can either add mica as before or paint them after baking. The black one below is a scrap that had some metal leaf mixed in (recycled error). The blue one is painted with acrylic paint and rubbed over with some metallic paint to higlight the pattern.

And now for my first experiment with Sculpey Bake and Bond. This is a bakeable adhesive intended for bonding Sculpey pieces to each other or to porous surfaces. I'm not entirely sure my experiment was what they had in mind, but paper is a porous surface right?

I conditioned, rolled out and trimmed to size a piece of clay - buttercream colour. Then I applied the Bake & Bond to the clay. It is very gloopy and sticky and so tricky to spread neatly. I ended up using my fingers (happens often) to spread the liquid without wrecking the smooth rolled surface of the clay.

Then I positioned some images face down onto the Bake & Bond and smoothed them down - again using fingers. I start in the centre of each piece and rub gently outwards to try and ensure complete contact. I anticipated that this first attempt might not be very tidy which is why I chose seaside images so the end result could justifiably look "weathered".

A quick tidy up to straighten the edges where working on the clay had distorted it and I created faux tiles by indenting the clay in between the pictures before baking.

Now the exciting bit....

Once the piece has baked and cooled take a dripping wet dishwashing sponge and press to thoroughly soak the paper bonded onto the clay.

Then rub the wet paper to peel it back in layers from the clay leaving behind the pictures. you may need to keep re-soaking as you go but you can be fairly vigorous without damaging the image.

As I suspected my first go was not completely successful. I had not pressed one corner into contact properly and the edges of each image were as wiggly as the gloop spreading. You also need to remember (and I know this but got carried away with new toys and didn't think about it) the images with writing come out backwards. Fortunately here the boat is so small you can't really tell that the name is back to front.

Nevertheless, I was please enough to incorporate it into a little project. I painted and weathered a little box with seaside colours, netting pattern, and flicks of dark blue spray which also "altered" another of my tops!

The materials used in these projects are available from The Altered Element. Click on the links in the text to see them.

Really simple stamping and polymer clay - part 1

2010-08-18T09:57:00.024+01:00

And yes I do mean really simple. Like many of the techniques I revert to, this is very forgiving and suitable for even the most inexperienced of stampers, nothing gets wasted and apart from the clay you only need a few materials that you probably already use for normal paper based stamping projects.

The basic ingredients are:

Polymer clay (Sculpey or Fimo work fine). I usually use black but colour doesn't matter for this technique because all the clay surface is eventually covered.

Mica powders. Again any sort will do. I use a mixture of Pearlex, Perfect Pearls and Moonglow in this project because that is what I happen to have collected over the years but if you don't already have any Cosmic Shimmer Powders come in sets of pretty colours to get started with.

Stamps - rubber or clear, mounted or not. The key here is not to choose too detailed an image. Photo type stamps do not work well. Something bold, outline or text which adds texture as well as an inked image is good. Here I used the Eco Green Garden Chic set from my Altered Element DT challenge pack.

Ink. I used Brilliance but Crafters or Chalk ink pads which also heat set will work too.

And to finish as many bits and pieces of embellishment as you choose from your stash.

A few basic tools are useful and those you don't already have can be improvised. I work on a heat proof non stick craft sheet so it is easy to transfer projects. A rolling pin (or substitute) and a blunt edge like a table knife for cutting are pretty much essential too. You can buy lovely purpose made tools for working with clay though if you intend to use it a lot.

All the materials and tools can be obtained from The Altered Element.

To make a finished piece to fit roughly folded A5 or a 4x6 incj frame, take half a block of clay.

First condition it by warming and rolling in your palms until you can form a ball. Then roll it out, either through a pasta machine (note DO NOT use it for food as well) or with a rolling pin. You can buy acrylic rolling pins for the purpose but a child's plastic one from a baking set is cheaper and works as well (or even an empty - well it wouldn't be full would it - wine bottle). Roll and fold 4 or 5 times to get a flexible sheet of clay. I roll in opposite directions each time so the end result is something like a rounded square rather than long and thin which it is after the first roll - unless of course you want a long thin project.
Next trim your sheet to the size and shape you require. Here I have straightened the edges. You can use a plastic blade or a table knife as the clay is very soft. Note: I have learned the hard way not to use a craft knife - you can see the line cut through my craft sheet as a result in the picture below!

(My piece was a bit square so I gave it another roll before the next step.) Now cover the clay completely with mica powders in your choice of colours. Use either a soft brush or just your finger tips to spread the powder onto the clay. It will stick by itself with no pressure so that you end up with a smooth sheen on the surface.

Next ink up your stamp and stamp onto the prepared surface of the clay. Press down evenly over the whole stamp. You need to take a little care to press so that you make an indentation into the clay but you don't need to press really hard or you go right through.

The good news is though that accidents are easily put right. If you press a little too hard and end up with a mark where the edge of your stamp pressed this can be disguised by gently rolling the clay again. Your impression will be deep enough to remain after the edge marks are smoothed.

If that doesn't work you can still either carry on with the next steps and add design features and embellishments to disguise blemishes or roll the clay up into a ball and start again. This works even after you have applied mica powders and ink and in fact if you've had several goes the powder helps stop the clay becoming too tacky and overworked.

Stamping into the clay will distort it a little but it doesn't matter because the next step is to take advantage of the clay medium and add some more distortion.

Gently peel some of the edges up from the craft sheet and gently stretch the clay a little so it doesn't lie flat again. Make small nicks into the edges (I use my thumb nail) and then roll the clay edge back to get an effect a bit like the curled edge of an old scroll.

Finally poke some holes hrough the clay. A ball ended parchment or metal tool or the rounded tip of a paintbrush handle works fine. Simply push the tool right through and circle slowly to stretch the hole to the size you like. You might need to brush a little mica powder over the edges and holes to conceal any bare clay exposed at this stage.

When you are happy with the result it is time to bake it. Follow the manufacturers instructions regarding temperature and timing. I transfer the pieces still on my craft sheet onto a baking tray, cover it with foil and fold the edges to seal in any fumes.

Remove from the over after the recommended time and leave covered to cool. As a precaution I generally unwrap outside to release any fumes.

The final steps are to embellish and mount the piece. Here I have made spirals of wire to thread through the holes at the top and then pulled these into 3-D shapes. I have threaded beads and cord through the holes at the side and added some Vintaj brass charms to finish.

The whole piece is mounted onto an easel style card but you could also frame it. Use an ordinary photo frame and put a sheet of card or paper in front of the glass inside the frame, then glue the clay piece into place.

For further ideas on using the scraps trimmed off and to see my first experiment with Bake and Bond please come back and see installment 2.

At last!

2010-08-10T08:52:00.008+01:00

I have finally caught up with myself. Seven months down and five to go in the 365 Calendar Challenge and I still haven't managed to post a single month on time. July has been especially late but with fab excuses - the weekend of 31st I was away in Bristol to see my son playing a concert with the National Childrens' Orchestra and, equally brilliant, on the Saturday just gone I had a day at Art from the Heart doing a Dina Wakely workshop. That, the day job and domestic duties have not left time for the technological trials of posting until now.

I've got a week off work now though and when the gardening gets rained off - which forecasts indicate might be a lot - I'm playing with the Garden Chic stamps Lynne at The Altered Element sent for my DT project this month. I've been working on tiny little canvas surfaces 4x4 and 2x2 inches that were part of the stamping surfaces pack a couple of months back.

This first one is the larger size and has a thick gloopy painted background with added string for texture. The butterfly is made from layers of paper sprayed with inks.

This tiny canvas has a less painty background and more string.

And this (also tiny) one was a complete disaster at first. I just couldn't get the background so I liked it and I used so many layers to try and fix it that it was much too thick. So I peeled the canvas off the board, painted it white and started again on a smooth surface. The same paints look quite different on a smooth background on this small scale. I added dimension by putting Glossy Accents over the flowers and stems at the end.

And another one...

2010-08-01T21:08:00.005+01:00

These little books have covers bound with painted silk, reinforced with Vilene interfacing and glued over hardboard. The pages inside are made from watercolour paper, folded into signatures and pierced using a pricking tool and... the reverse of the mouse mat.

I photocopied the painted silk before binding the covers and used the copies to make matching fly sheets at the front and back.

And use five for a surplus mouse mat is for embossing. With apologies to any parchment craft lovers, who will no doubt be appalled, I embossed the figure in this photo (another image from the Artchix sheet in my July DT pack) using the rounded end of a paintbrush handle and the back of a mouse mat to give her something of the effect of those Wedgewood cameos where the image is in relief.
I also painted her with a coat of watered down glossy accents so she appears as a raised image with sheen against the grungy background. As ever my photography in not the best but you can just about use imagination to see the effect in the close ups below.

Both items were made for swaps so I really hope I haven't spoiled the surprise by showing them here.

And onto August already! I don't know where time goes. Lynne at The Altered Element sent me these pretty garden themed stamps which I will play with as soon as I've caught up with my 365 day challenge.

101 uses for a surplus mouse mat

2010-07-15T22:53:00.014+01:00

This month Lynne at The Altered Element gave us the chance to choose items to use for our DT challenge projects. So, being strict with myself and in keeping with the spirit of "challenge" I selected the bits and pieces in the picture below. Big challenge... no purple this month.

I also self selected an item for the upcycle challenge - this mouse mat that came free with a music magazine and had been hanging around for ages.

Use number one would of course be as a mouse mat but in the age of the infra red mouse it isn't really needed.

Use number two would be as a pricking mat. The back although not very thick (it was a freebie after all) is soft foam and the picture, which would be the bottom when pricking, is tough and plasticy so you wouldn't go right through.

I was obviously in a destructive mood though and simple stabbing wasn't enough so I cut the mat into pieces. I have to confess I haven't actually got anywhere near to 101 uses but I did find a couple more to use in my projects....

Use three - make your own stamps.

Heat the underneath foam side gently and then press firmly onto items of your choice to make indentations. Hold for a minute whilst the foam cools and sets before lifting off. If you don't like the result you can reheat and try again. You can also do this technique with a Rub it Scrub it stamp cleaning mat when the scrubbing surface has worn out.

SAFTEY FIRST THOUGH - holding near a light bulb (one that is on of course) is enough. Don't go mad with a heat gun or any other heat source for that matter. Take care not to over heat and work in a well ventilated room in case of fumes. Make sure you use heat resistant things to impress your pattern too. Here I used fancy paper clips to make a swirly design.

One of the items in my DT selection was a chain bracelet. I made grunge paper charms - more recycling. The left over green painted grunge paper from my birdy creation last month got a new lick of paint, some spritzes with mica spray and overstamping (with my home made stamp) with assorted yellow and brown paint dabbers and inks. Each is finished with an eyelet and attached with a jump ring.

I made the reverse sides a slightly more subdued pinkier base colour and although you can't tell from the photo they have some Stickles glitter glue smeared on them.

Use four....

Squares of mouse mat fit into the Ranger memory frames and make an excellent cheap and safe alternative to glass slides when making items of jewellery.

In this first pendant I have coloured the frame with alcohol ink. The front of the pendant is the foan side of the mat. I paintend it with Lumiere gold paint, heated and stamped into it with a rubber stamp. The sparkly accents are more Stickles in gold and silver.

To cover the picture on the mat I used a piece of gold card daubed with alcohol ink.

Pendant number two has the frame painted with watered down (it is old and thick and I don't like the bulky, stubby brush) Crackle paint, inked over with some chalk and Brilliance ink pads once dry. These heat set but need a paint grounding to work really well on metal.

The collage on the front is made of scraps of music score stained with walnut ink and embellished with an image from the ArtChix sheet and some German Scrap.

The picture for the reverse is stamped onto tissue paper and coloured on the back with inks before glueing it to the mat. I painted two coats of Mod Podge over the top in opposite directions to protect the surface and give it some texture.

Uses 5 to 101 TBA when I think of them.

Because the ArtChix image sheet had pictures the right side for microscope slides I had to decorate a slide mailer. Not strictly recycling is it but I do have rather a lot of "blank" things that I've bought because I'm bound to use them one day so another challenge to myself - get something out and use it!

I covered the whole thing with torn pices of music score, wiped over with gesso, then paint dabber, then Stickles and then spritzed with mica spray to get a colourful messy background to blend with the yellow scheme of the images.

I glued on an image front and back and stamped words onto tissue paper to stick iinside. - More spritzing afterwards to blend them in.

I always use Xyron to stick images onto glass. That bit of all over stick makes it less likely for splinters of glass to cause injury if the slide is accidentally broken. I have coloured metal tape with alcohol ink and stuck it all round the edges for extra protection. The slide is glued into the aperture with a snippet of ribbon behind.

More pretty birds but NO purple in sight.

Keeping up to date

2010-07-03T20:56:00.005+01:00

Here is my June Calendar challenge page. It has been a bit of a struggle keeping up this month because I've been really busy at work and with my brain working overtime I've been over-analysing what to write, determined not to have another page majoring on the weather. I only operate properly within a narrow range of temperatures. Most of the time I feel the cold, but I also can't get on with the sun or a lot of heat but I've tried not to go on about it.

My July page is ready to go. I'm not all that happy with it though - the colours aren't quite what I was after and the result is a bit too sugared almond and not enough Solero ice lolly for July.

In my last post I mentioned bloopers. Here is the result of one of my experiments with the Tyvek included in my June DT pack from The Altered Element. This is the least disasterous of the results of heating by ironing and I do quite like it - it has potential for some future project I think. The indentations look as though they will hold additional colour nicely.

And this is the result of too much heat on fusible film! The colours don't show very well in these pictures but I do like the effect I accidentally achieved where the film under the steam holes (don't use steam though) on the iron are not affected as much as the rest and leave little bubbles of different colours.

This is the effect in close up. The moral of this tale... practice a lot and don't have a conversation whilst ironing, it only takes a second too long to make a sticky mess.

Bird Brained

2010-06-28T21:23:00.014+01:00

This month Lynne at the Altered Element sent a stamping surfaces pack. Included in it were these cute little bird stamps...

... and loads of different things to stamp on including grunge board, canvases, stamp board, shrink plastic, metal, Tyvek and fusible film.

Now I don't know if it is the hot weather or an overdose of Springwatch but I've been totally bird brained this month. The first thing I did on receiving all these goodies - including lime green fusible film - was to paint a sheet of felt with Lumiere paint in purple and add even more sparkle with mica sprays. I seem to be having a very purple and sparkly phase at the moment. If it isn't the heat maybe its my age?

Anyway I do like bright colours and I'd been knitting with some copper wire from last months pack - just to see if I could really - which resulted in a messy net that just needed a purple background. (For neat, beaded wire knitting with proper shape check out Beth's blog.)

Then, with the bird stamps and thoughts of netting birds to ring them in mind - Springwatch on the brain - I set about using as many bird stamps as possible on as many of the surfaces supplied as possible. Despite my best efforts I haven't managed to incorporate them all. I really ought to plan a bit more but the novelty of experimenting with things gets the better of me, often. So I made lots of patches and charms featuring birds which I incorporated into a sort of wall hanging.

The patches down each side are made in three ways.

One set are stamped with Brilliance Ink onto Tyvek sprayed first with mica spray. The squares I used weren't heat treated. Maybe I'll post the "bloopers" that resulted from heating it later -enough said!

Another were stamped on tea dyed fabric to which I added extra colour and bling with mica spray. The stamping was with StaZon.

The third set were stamped onto shrink plastic which had been painted with watered down Lumiere paint. When shrunk this has a wonderful deep colour and interesting texture.

The charms were also created in a variety of ways too. I painted a sheet of grungeboard with the pearlescent Eco Green acrylic paint from last months pack. Once dry I stamped with StaZon and cut out the birds.

Another set were stamped onto fusible film using a Karantha unmounted stamp. More bloopers here before I got the ironing right and fused the layers on the stamping without frazzling the lot.
I coloured metal with Alcohol Inks and stamped with Brilliance ink. I stuck the metal to card to reduce kinking and cut out the chickens.

I also used a laser cut bird shape - like a Twidleybitz but from old stash - painted with Lumiere paint and overstamped with Brilliance.

You can see in the close up shots that the film shapes had holes reinforced with eyelets and all the charms are fastened to the wire net with loops of thread.

I also made ten inchies for a swap, again based on painted felt. The flowers are die cut from shrink plastic, stamped with random patterns before shrinking.

The flowers can be shaped before they cool and I fastened them with stitches and beads in the centre.

Football Widow?

2010-06-17T21:14:00.002+01:00

Calling all football widows....

Whilst the football mad are safely parked in front of the telly get out your credit cards and head for The Altered Element on-line shop. They have a 10% off offer (try saying that after a lager or two) running during each of England's world cup matches so on your marks ready to shop tomorrow evening.

Go to their blog before kick off to pick up a discount coupon code and place your order whilst the match is underway.

More DT challenge news - May and June combined

2010-06-06T15:33:00.020+01:00

Part of my May DT challenge pack from the Altered Element was a Twiddleybitz Bird Cage kit.

Initially I coloured the pieces using Moonshadow Mists which are walnut ink sprays with coloured mica. I'd intended the cage to look shimmery and brown to go with the other items in last month's pack but somehow despite spraying several colours the result had a distinctly pink tinge to it which led me off down another, brighter route.

I covered the roof with some of the metal sheet provided in the June stamping surfaces pack. I embossed the pattern of tiles into it with a paper stump before gluing it down and then added colour with Wild Plum alcohol ink and more Moonshadow Mist.

I used another bamboo skewer from the kitchen drawer to make a perch. I wiped this over with brown paint to darken it and fastened it with little twists of bright pink wire.

I coloured some German scrap border with Wild Plum alcohol ink and Moonshadow mist to decorate the edge of the roof. The bead on top is fastened with a head pin and some Diamond Glaze.

The base is decorated with coordinating flowers. I must have a thing for pink and purple because I happened to already have these but often I buy white and paint, ink or spritz to match a project.

All it needs now are five feet of some description.

My June upcycle challenge item was this bracelet......

...... which I have cleaned and dismantled and two pieces of it are now phone/bag charms. (Don't tell anybody but I had planned earrings until I found out how heavy I had made them. I've still got three links left though so perhaps with better planning at the start I might yet make a wearable pair.)

I risked fingers and eyes to remove the very dark plastic gems from the bracelet with a craft knife, a lot of patience and a little bad language. I'd love to know what adhesive they used, I could certainly do with some!

The empty holes are filled with beads and wire from last month's DT pack sealed in with Diamond Glaze.

Just like buses....

2010-06-02T09:19:00.006+01:00

Nothing for ages and then three come along at once!

In my DT pack for May there was a length of the most beautiful beaded ribbon in a turquoise and coppery gold colour scheme.

Taking the colours as my starting point I painted some calico with turquoise, copper and yellow/green fabric paints in broad stripes using a lot of water to blend on the fabric - no skill or technique here, just use a flat brush and slap it on. Once dry I over stamped, again with paints, using bubble wrap and a swirly back ground stamp and then sponged through some sequin waste for a bit more pattern. I can do less is more but it doesn't happen often!

I used Simplicity pattern 9949 to cut pieces of my painted fabric to make a small bag. I sewed lengths of the beaded ribbon along each end of the main piece before assembling the bag. The important thing is to make sure the cut ends of the ribbon and the threads holding the beads are secured into the seam so they don't come undone.

Here's a close up of the beading.

I'm seriously thinking I need to get a longer length of ribbon to decorate a pair of flip flops.

May upcycle challenge, feels like cheating

2010-06-02T08:16:00.009+01:00

Lynne at The Altered Element sent a huge and heavy parcel full of DT goodies for May, and here's the reason why....

The upcycle challenge item was this wooden jewellery box, and she also sent all these other goodies.
It is worth ordering from The Altered Element for the added delight of opening the beautifully wrapped parcels. Items are usually in individual brown paper bags taped down so you have to peel them open carefully, like at Christmas, to save the nice paper for later. There is lilac tissue in the box too to pad out any space. I'd put this on the side thinking I'd save it for a project but before inspiration struck the hamster beat me to it. He now has a pretty, cosy lilac nest.

After the fun of unwrapping and time spent stroking the goodies I started my upcycle project. I always find it a little difficult to get going when I have something that is in good condition to start with. It goes against some in-built instinct to make the first move and spoil the exisiting article. I have the same trouble with altering books and try to find tatty ones to make starting easier.

Once I'd taken it apart, removed the lid, legs and handles and sanded the external surfaces it became much easier. All scruffied up there was no going back. I used the Eco Green acrylic paint (over two textured coats of gesso) to start with. Lynne had sent me Green Patina which was very pearlised and pretty but wasn't quite what I had in mind. I was aiming for a distressed, worn finish that looked completely different from the polished box I started with, so I wiped over it with some Adirondak paint dabber which has a matte finish and took some of the shine away.

As well as changing the look of the box I decided it needed a new use - as a mini sewing box to hold enough things for an individual project at a time. I made a pin cushion top for the lid using printed canvas and layers of wadding. See my blog from last month for details of the Golden Mix More Media products for printing on canvas.

I took out the insides of the box to leave plain compartments and added a canvas and elastic holder inside the lid to cover the space where a mirror had been.

I used some Adirondak Metallic Mixative in pearl colour with a drop of lettuce alcohol ink to colour the handles before putting the box pack together without feet. I'm sure they'll be really useful for something else later.

Still feels like cheating to get a box and upcycle it into another box but it looks and feels quite different.

This must be a record

2010-06-02T07:40:00.004+01:00

This must be a record for the least late I have so far been posting my 365 challenge page.

Going back to work after my convalescence was a bit of a shock to the system and I have been too tired to do much in the evenings for the past few weeks so I have to confess that there has been a degree of catch up required over the bank holiday weekend to get back on track.

The colour scheme for June reminds me of the sea side - a bit too early for summer holidays though.

Birthday Madness

2010-05-09T22:33:00.005+01:00

This weekend Dyan at Art from the Heart has thrown a 2 day Mad Hatter's Tea Party to celebrate both the relocation of her business and its 9th birthday.

I made a Mad Hatter style hat (mainly from mulberry paper, pelmet vilene and a lot of Duck carpet tape to hold it together) for the occasion which incorporated Alice in Wonderland and tea party items and a sleeping dormouse nesting in the top. Go to her blog for pictures of the amazing costumes and inventive hats created by others.

Whilst there we had tea and mega buns and played in mini workshops all in aid of charity. I also made a few (only a few honest) purchases in the shop.

Here's the tag and envelope pocket I made.

Also, having done some e-housekeeping and made room on the memory chip in my camera here at last is my April 365 journal page - all bright and spring like with tulips and daffodils in mind....

and May all ready to start - with a cherry blossom colour scheme.

Happy 10th Birthday to Craft Stamper Magazine

2010-05-01T20:26:00.004+01:00

The June 2010 issue of Craft Stamper will hit the shops next Friday, the 7th May.

It is the 10th anniversary issue and includes lots of bonus features as well as the usual excellent range of projects. There are eight more pages than normal, a fantastic competition with £1,200 worth of prizes and a nostalgic feature looking at some favourite articles from the past 10 years, so do get a copy and take a look.

In addition the Trade It monthly swap and the web site are having a makeover with new opportunities to have your own art work featured.

Here's a sneak peek at my project for customising a clock which features in the issue.

A minor victory for woman over machine

2010-04-21T08:30:00.006+01:00

I have been continuing my experiments with the Golden Mix More Media kit provided by Lynne at The Altered Element for my April challenge. The products themselves are quite easy to apply but I have been struggling to get prepared materials to go through our basic ink jet printer because they need to be flexible enough to make a right angled bend as they pass through.

My latest success has been with mulberry paper. Although preparing it with medium removes a bit of the softness, if mounted onto copier paper it will go through. I found I needed to tape it down the sides as well as the leading edge though to stop it crunching up and jamming inside the machine. I think that's because it stretches and buckles a bit when it gets wet from applying the medium.

I used my printed mulberry paper for the cover of a hand made book. First I gave it two coats of clear digital ground, then printed it using a design from the Artylicious Decadent Brocade CD. Once dry I painted on a coat of UV protective gel medium to stop the colours from fading. I embellished the pattern by outlining with a Sakura stardust pen and added highlights of Stickles.

To constuct the book I used basic copier paper for the inside pages and the back of an old A4 pad for the covers (you need to gesso the chip board because the colour shows through the mulberry paper and dulls the image if you don't) . I followed instructions on how to construct the book from one of the videos recommended in fellow DT member Trace's bookbinding tutorial which can be found here. The fly sheets were printed on copier paper using the same Artylicious design as the cover. Having them coordinate covers up a multitude of sins if, like me on a first attempt, your alignment is not the greatest.

It was surprisingly quick to make this book. Even allowing for drying time at various stages I completed it within a day and now I know I can do it my head is full of ideas for making books that incorporate pre-decorated pages. Oh the possibilites....

DT Challenge - month one, part two

2010-04-15T09:06:00.024+01:00

I have been experimenting with the products in the Golden Mix More Media kit that Lynne at The Altered Element challenged me with this month. These products are intended to allow ink jet printing on surfaces other than paper, and the Golden web site provides instructions on how to apply the products which are clear and - when done by experts - make it look very easy.

As is typical for me I launched straight in, and as a result have a few mishaps to report and some advice to give.

1. Practice running the materials you intend to eventually use through your printer before you do anything else. The Golden website recommends using a printer where the "paper" passes flat through the printer but mine (and a lot of other small home models) either passes the paper in a U shape doubling back or in an L shape from the veritcal rear loader bending at right angles to pass through the printer. It is therefore not possible to get some materials to go through without jamming the printer. I only discovered this after I had spent time and used lots of the product painting layers on unsuitable things,so put the materials through as a test (print one full stop in a corner if your application tell you there is nothing to print) before you do anything else. I couldn't get Ten Seconds Studio metal or kitchen foil taped to paper to go through at all but had more success with thin canvas stuck to paper.

2. Buy a foam brush. I tried applying the media with a normal paint brush and when I had done two coats in opposite directions the result was quite heavy and textured. That might be OK in some circumstances but wasn't what I really wanted so bear it in mind. You get a smoother coverage more quickly if you use a foam brush.

3. Play with both clear and white media on test surfaces so you can compare the results. I started out using the clear medium on some canvas thinking it was already white in colour and clear would be sufficient, but then decided to paint a strip with the white medium as well to compare results.

The image on the RHS is printed on the white medium and the others on the clear. The colours are stronger on the white which I prefer.

4. If you have prepared material which won't run through your printer don't despair, recycle. I have found that by using a very damp washing up sponge you can gently rub off the Medium for non porous surfaces and any printing disasters from Ten Seconds Studio Metal sheet so it can be used for something else.

The images I didn't like on the canvas experiment I simply gessoed over the top so I can reuse that too - but probably not thorugh the printer now!

So onto my project.... Having had some issues with printing onto various substrates my best results to date were onto canvas like fabric so this is what I have used as the focus for this piece.

The base is a canvas that I had prepared previously for another project. I covered it with torn pieces of old sheet music to give some texture. Old book pages or scraps of other paper would do too. Over this I swiped Gesso and then layers of paint to get a mixture of toning colours at random which complemented the picture. You could do this also by recycling a cardboard box with a lid as the base instead of a canvas because once it is covered no one will know.

Because I was working with a picture on canvas I wanted to include other fabric and stitching within the project. I coloured a scrap of muslin and some ribbon with Glimmer Mist (but Cosmic Shimmer Misters of Ranger Adirondak Colour Wash would work too) and sprayed paper flowers too.

The ribbon is glued right round the outside edge of the canvas.

Being unable to resist a bit of glitz I sneaked a small square of ironed Fantasy Fibre into the mix before stitching the canvas picture to the coloured muslin. If you don't have a sewing machine and/or don't have thread the right colour spritz some to colour it and hand stitch instead.

I then added lots of paper flowers coloured to match. These extend round the sides and over the top of the canvas, although I've kept the base free so the canvas will stand up.

Each flower is finished with a button or sequin glued in the centre.

And the final result looks like this....

Experiments will continue, so don't be surprised if Golden Media put in an appearance in later projects.

Better late than never!

2010-04-07T11:48:00.004+01:00

I'm getting worse, as in later, with posting my 365 day challenge pages each month! This time it wasn't technology that was the problem but a malfunction in me... I've been in hospital for an operation and got all behind with it.

Anyway, better late than never, here it is posted to prove I have eventually finished.

And here are the April pages ready to start.

DT challenge, month one, part one -AKA Be careful what you wish for!

2010-04-07T10:40:00.009+01:00

Here's what Lynne at The Altered Element sent me for the design team challenges in April....

Firstly, a Golden Mixed Media kit with products for making various materials suitable for ink jet printing. I have to confess I am still regarding this with some trepidation. Followers will know I am a bit technophobic -straightforward printing on a sheet of A4 paper is about my limit. However, I did confess to Lynne that image transfer was something I'd like to try so this is a case of be careful what you wish for. I will report back on my experiments in due course....

The second items were six little wooden building blocks for the upcycle challenge. Lynne selects interesting things from the local charity shop for us to turn into something new.

The first thing I made was a perpetual calendar. Now you can do this with only four blocks by putting six months onto each of two blocks and the numbers onto another two as follows:

First block: 0,1,2,3,4,5
Second block: 0,1,2,6,7,8 NB You need to use a 6 which can double as a 9 when turned upside down.

However if you are a fuss pot like me it will drive you mad having the spare month block lying around (or worse still put safely away so you can't remember where it is six months later). I decided to put four months on each of three blocks and add images to the spare faces on each so all the cubes can be displayed at once.

You can use any technique to decorate the cubes so long as you keep the surfaces smooth and flat because your blocks need to stand level on every face. I covered each face with patterned paper scraps and then doodled with black and white gel pens to create the numbers and months. I used rubber stamps for the images. I put men's faces onto one side of each month cube and nature images on the others. That way there is a choice of theme to display with each month, or you can mix the two if you aren't obsessed with things matching!

I sanded back the single block left over to remove the paint and used it as the base for a dinky little ornament.

The bird is by Twiddleybitz. I have painted it with Tim Holtz Distress Crackle Paint in Antique Linen. I needed to water it down as it is a bit old and was too dry to work with so the crackle is quite fine (unintentionally). I rubbed Pine Needles Distress Ink over the top to highlight what cracks there were and blend the colour closer to the sanded wood.

The stick is a bamboo skewer from the kitchen drawer, trimmed and slotted into a hole drilled into the block. The pointed end was pushed into the bird. I wrapped some jute ribbon round the stick. It was dark green to start with but I'd previously used it to sponge through with paint for a background so it too was quite distressed, and recycled, so I prettied it up with a few Prima flowers.

I stamped the block using eden green StaZon Ink with assorted nature themed images and sanded back a bit to soften the colour, before glueing the elements together.

New Craft Stamper out today...

2010-04-02T19:17:00.008+01:00

The May issue of Craft Stamper is in shops today (well yesterday actually but I couldn't get Blogger to cooperate with me last night) and I've got an altered book project featured. Click on the image to find out more about the other great articles included.

You can see a small picture of my book on the magazine cover - next to the free stamp - and here's sneak preview of part of one of the pages. It has something of a creepy crawly theme!

I've been in hospital for an operation recently and now I'm feeling a bit better I'm in catch up mode. Watch this space... I hope to have my March 365 challenge page finished and posted over Easter and the first installment of my Altered Element DT challenge ready to show too.

Exciting times

2010-03-13T21:27:00.006Z

I have some really exciting news to share. I have been accepted onto the newly created Altered Element design team for the inaugural 6 month term. Take a look at their web store full of lovely mixed media goodies, read their blog here and watch this space for news of monthly creations....

Last week I also had a leave day to use and spent part of the morning waiting in. As luck would have it, first call meant first call in this instance and my chores were over nice and early so I scrounged a lift into Harrogate to collect some stamps I was after at Art from the Heart. (Large alphabet stamps which will make an appearance towards the end of the year in my 365 Day Challenge Journal). The lovely Dyan had started a workshop by the time I arrived but generously let me join in and play anyway.

We made pocket books with a box frame cover and for the first time in living memory I actually got on and finished the project straight away. I have to confess to many bags containing half finished projects lurking - part knitted jumpers behind the sofa and the like.

Mine used papers from the 7 Gypsies Venice range and I kept the theme going using Darkroom Door Venice stamps to create decoupaged layers to put inside the frame.

I put two sets of tags into the pockets. One set was stamped mainly with Darkroom Door stamps and the other with Paper Artsy Ink and the Dog Clocks stamps. I used holiday photos to decorate the backs of the tags and added a small stamped clock to the front of each pocket.

I hope my Mum's not looking because this is now wrapped up ready to be her Mothers' Day gift.

Fully Charged and Ready to Go...

2010-03-03T09:02:00.011Z

The camera that is, I'm not sure the same can be said for me.

Anyway here, better late than never, is my February challenge page complete with journalling. I'm feeling very smug this morning because I've already filled in today's square in March too.

And now I'm wired to the camera to transfer this picture I've got some more fab ATCs to share. The first two are ones I got by swapping at the Artisan Show last year.

This one is by Helen Chilton of Craft Stamper fame. I love the way she uses colour and birds are a favoutire of mine so I had to have this. The punched edge is great too. I now know I don't need to throw out the pages I've not lined up properly in the Bind It All machine.

This one is by L. Abery and is one of my all time favourites. Again I'm drawn to the colours but I also love that this is so beautifully put together with neat colouring and cutting (which I can't do, messy is my middle name).

The next sets of pictures are ATCs made for a swap where each player used a stamp of their choice, then sent it to the next player and so on. By the end we had each made four ATCs with each stamp to distribute so we each had a set made with each stamp. Confused?

The lovely players who participated with me were Pauline Hampson, Annie Mackay and Mawgan Dipple. My stamp was the heart one. I think it might have been a gift as it isn't what I'd generally choose but the observant amongst you might have noticed that it had a second outing on my February challenge page.

Best Laid Plans...

2010-03-01T21:52:00.005Z

I have now memorised how to transfer piccies from the camera to computer without searching for and reading the manual so I was all ready to photograph my February page for The Kathryn Wheel 365 day challenge but... the battery in my camera is flat!

Meantime, here is a preview of March (you'll recall I had done backgrounds to August in January as a journalling delay tactic). Now I see it afresh it is a bit grey looking, a reflection of the dull mood I was in at the start of January in the dark, snowy, cold days. I might use bright colours for the lettering to jazz it up a bit or maybe a bit more silvery bling and some images bottom right - it sure needs something!

Here also is an ATC I made as part of a batch for swapping at the Artisan show last autumn. I made sheets of Distress Ink backgrounds to cut up and mount as the base for the cards. The image is from a Crafty Individuals book.

Current score for this year: Technology 2 Kate 0

2010-02-04T09:05:00.006Z

Oh, and so many other little lessons learned...

Here at last is a picture of my 365 day challenge January page.

I chose what I thought was an excellent book from The PaperMill Shop for the challenge. It is A3 size with sturdy covers and quite thick pages, all spiral bound. How wrong I was!

Firstly, unless you have a physique like Naomi Campbell (very, very tall and long limbed and with no tummy) you can't work at the top of the page without getting a line of paint across the midriff and bits of jumper stuck in your work. I suppose those long pincer like tools on a long handle that rubbish collectors use might be a solution but the quality of work would be compromised.

Secondly, because the covers are completely blank I managed to start work upside down at the back of the book so it was really fiddly to open and close. If you check out the wire on a spiral bound you'll see what I mean. I was three backgrounds in before I discovered this and ended up having to take off the covers, take out all the pages and rebuild the book - hence the slightly lopside look it now has.

Thirdly, the size of the pages is just so big that none of my alphabet stamps comes near to the right scale for adding the months and it is very difficult (for me) to photograph such large pages. I must learn to think things through properly.

I knew doing the journalling was going to be difficult for me which is why I joined the challenge in the first place. I spent most of January slapping paint on backgrounds and cutting about 400 (well you need some spare in case..) 2" squares from all my part used sheets of patterned paper - I've got backgrounds upto August started already! I think I've just reached the point where I can accept that actually it doesn't matter to me - and certainly doesn't to anyone else - how mundane and repetitive activities and record of daily life is so I'm finding it a bit easier to get on with now.

I'm sure there are more embellishments to add before the page is finished but at least I've done the challenging bit.

And don't get me started on technology again. I'm using a morning off work to get out the camera manual, transfer the pictures and try to get them in the right place in this post as it's the only chance to have a long enough go on the computer.

On the upside, here's a peek at what Februry looks like so far.

Twelve Days of Christmas

2010-01-03T22:02:00.000Z

I think all participants in the 12 days of Christmas swap have opened their presents by now (those impatient ones amongst us did start early and finish on Christmas eve) so it won't spoil the surprise if I now share the fantastic work of my fellow swappers....

However I'm now teetering on the edge - and likely to throw a Pete Townsend type fit and chuck the laptop through the window - I'm so frustrated with my inability to get pictures to go where I want them in blogger! If anyone out there has any advice please do help.

For now I'm going to post with the pictures all over the place because I do want to share the wonderful creative gifts I received from clever artists.

On the first day Liz sent me a fabulous miniature book. It was wrapped as a teeny, tiny snowman and I couldn't resist starting with this one.

On the second day I opened and intriguing squishy parcel from Claudia and found an endearing little creature within.

And on day three Adrienne's parcel revealed some beautiful wearable art in some of my favourite colours - with apologies for the terrible photography capabilities in close up!

The fourth day brought Lyn's gift of a little memory album. The neatest, tidiest work ever and immaculately presented with credit for the original idea. I wish I could work so precisely.

On the fifth day I opened the present from Trish and found two gifts - a bookmark and this calendar which I think may go to work with me.

On day six I opened Annie's gift. As well as having an interesting textured lid, this box has a marvellous embroidered lining and it contained some chocolates too - but not amymore!

My surprise on day seven was a circular mini book from Elizabeth which she had cleverly wrapped by folding the paper origami style to create an envelope.

Day eight brought a dear little Christmas house from Mawgan and on day nine I opened Pauline C's gorgeous butterfly themed book of tags.

Nearly there now..... Day ten brought this watch with wow factor from Pauline H. I think the strap is made from grunge paper decorated with lovely pearlescent paints. She had wrapped this in an organza bag in lilac (another fav of mine) which she had stamped all over with a swirl design.

Day eleven's surprise was another useful item - one for the shelf by the phone - a post it note book. Yummy lilac and turquoise again with a friendly plastic butterfly embellishment courtesy of Wendy.

And finally (how lucky am I? this was all in the run up to Christmas eve) more wearable art in the form of a delicate pendant presented in a tiny decorated box from Annie.

Thanks again to all those talented artists who so generously share their knowhow and their work at UKArtswaps.

I'll leave this post with pictures of the gifts I sent. I'm off to the home for the technologically challenged now.

Ice Birds

2009-12-22T11:38:00.000Z

Having at last managed to set up a blog, I've made a little canvas with the themes of white and dangly bits for the Graphicus December Challenge. Whether I can work out how to link it will be another matter!

I started out with a 4x4 canvas and stamped a background pattern with gesso to get a bit of texture. I then used a baby wipe to apply white acrylic paint over the canvas. The background is completed by some patches of Ranger Rock Candy crackle paint with white rubbed in the cracks and a smear of Stickles for icy sparkle.

I stamped the birds onto Ten Seconds Studio metal using StaZon ink and went over the stamped lines with a teflon tipped tool to indent them. Then working from the back I embossed the bodies using a paper stump. I've added a little icy blue colour with sharpie pens and then swiped with white acrylic.

The stamps are from an Elusive Images Curly Birds plate, as is the bird cage which I stamped three times onto frosted shrink plastic using white Brilliance Ink. (I learned that direction matters when doing this. Images stamped across the plastic shrink in different proportion to those stamped lengthways, but you probably knew that!). I punched holes for threading before shrinking the plastic. The birdcages are threaded with beads onto nylon thread and hang from rings screwed into the bottom of the canvas.

The First Post

2009-12-11T07:29:00.000Z

Well here goes with my first post....

I had decided to enter the November challenge on the Graphicus blog to make something with a resist technique and/or metallic colour theme. Then I read the instructions and discovered I'd need somewhere to post a picture of my entry, hence this blog. Needless to say it has taken me ages to get to grips with creating a blog - I've spent far too long playing with the layout and colour options in Blogger - and so missed the challenge deadline and never even finished anything to enter.

My namesake at The Kathryn Wheel has recently posted about making an Art Calendar. I think I'll start one for 2010 so hopefully I'll have something to share soon. I've just to tidy the mess in the kitchen left from making 12 gifts for a Twelve Days of Christmas swap before I can start. We're opening the presents we swapped one per day from 12th so I'll have to keep them secret until Christmas as I don't know what day everyone will open my gifts.

So I've got something to show meanwhile here are my first attempts from a couple of years back at altered book pages for round robins run through the sadly now defunct AlterNatives group on Yahoo, with apologies for the poor quality of the scans (digital photos are something else I need to learn how to do)...

A page for a green themed book.

And a couple for alphabet themed books: