First snow

 the funfair

a glorious festive flurry

just a tad too early in my book...

drum roll

 loud applause please...

I've finished it!!! 

all those circles

 so oddly addicitve

it's yet to be decorated 

but I love it this far!

 nooooooooo... not on your nellie

you three legged birdy thing

get orf!!!

 

Paper wreath

I've become a little obsessed with the many

 paper wreaths around on Pinterest, total eye candy! 

I thought I'd have a go myself, starting with something small

I bought a base and began punching out a trillion circles

It takes a surprising amount of paper!! 

each one scrunched with a dab of hot glue in the centre 

then a bit more glue to attach them to the base

it's going to be fab and I WILL finish it

I fancy decorating it autumn style

I hope to post a couple of links to tutorials

we have a new compi

things are just not where I left them

funny that...

A stitch with a twist

I went on a course last week 

and I  learnt a few things

 well a lot actually...

so much easier than trying to teach myself from a book!

 The 'Stitchin' day was based around the work of Léa Stansal

 check out the links here and here

(traslation available)

 now I find myself staying up all hours of the night...

watching mindless TV and stitching

like I need this in my schedule right now

kid's summer hols just around the corner...

Stilton and Les Marten

if only she'd read the instructions...

cut one it said

cut one, reverse one

not cut two, reverse two...

 ah...

therein lies the problem...

 show off!

you, with your name on your head

and your fancy tail...

 come on Dearie, best foot forward

 into the garden we go...

Other stuff

Contrary to popular belief I have actually been making stuff

I can't say I've been over-productive but nevertheless

a couple of things are on the go

I'm still working on my stitchery and if you don't look too closely

and view it through the Picasa 1960's filter 

it  appears to be coming along nicely! 

  'The Artful Bird' by Abigail Patner Glassenberg

landed on my doorstep today,

 like I need another distraction but it had to be done/ordered!

 The lovely Linda led me astray a while ago by 

sending me a link to Ann Wood

check out the owls

totally fab! 

I want to make stuff like that...

and live in a room with whispy curtains...

really I do...

eventually...

 one day...

 

Postcard from Iceland

 We're off to Iceland with Darcy's postcard challenge

Oddly enough it was this time two years ago almost to the day,

that my flight home to NZ was cancelled because of the 

ash cloud from Iceland's Mount Eyjafjallajokull 

covering Europe 

 I took this week's inspiration from the many eerie photos

 of the countryside covered in ash 

 I had ideas about missing puzzle pieces and wotnot

but my characters have gone AWOL this week

they're resting just as I am (reclining with large Easter egg filled stomachs)

I'll attempt to rescue them next week, possibly...

I started with a puzzle card which I

 coloured with Neocolour watercolour crayons,

 I added the water and the colour slid off

 as I hadn't Gessoed or sanded the surface!

then I added a layer of Acrylic which held 

then more Neocolour, for the house I used a white Sharpie.  

Postcard from Singapore

Darcy's postcard challenge takes us to Singapore this week. 

 I visited this fab city many years ago

 and it's still my transit stop whenever I manage to get home to NZ   

There's an amazing walk-in butterfly enclosure at the airport

a must see if you're ever passing through!

 I made my card using a butterfly punch

 and an assortment of Asian scrapbooking papers 

 Here's Gloria's card to Jayne, it reads:

I think I've landed in a winged wonderland

full of fanciful flutterers including

The Dot Dash Sergeant, The Chequered Lancer,

 Jacintha Eggfly and Spotted Judy

They could be characters in a book, superb!

Gx

p.s has Bagman found his wallet yet?

I'm getting worried

I struggled a bit this week, I had loads of ideas 

but seemed incapable of doing anything with them.

I blame excessive choccie consumption for my woes!

Happy weekend!

swisspaperplus is born

drum roll.... ta da!!

 introducing...

swisspaperplus

my new Etsy shop! 

 it's only taken me a couple of years 

but I've finally gone and done it 

 I've set up my shop AND put something on the shelves!

 Swiss German paper ephemera

froms cards and envies to stamps, cabinet cards, labels, ribbons and more

loads of it...

 

 all ready and waiting for your creativity!

pop over and have a look

swisspaperplus

Finding your muse

Linda sent this wonderful link to Alisa Burke's blog  last week, 

a free tutorial on 'finding your muse'  

Alisa writes about discovering what inspires you in your own environment 

and using it in your creativity.  

I struggled a bit with this as a lot of the things that inspire me aren't close by,

 but I figured I could start by looking for the colours I love 

and I found them without too much trouble, 

lots of them in fact, not far down the road, I really must learn to walk with my eyes 'open'! 

I decided to use these colours on my pages
 for this month's challenge over at  'The Kathryn Wheel' 
 I'm more than a little late and March is looking a bit plain,
 but at least I have something on my paper!

 I covered my pages in old text, painted and sloshed,
 something I don't seem to have done for ages.
I also added a layer of Neocolour waterbased crayons
 and a spray of  'stream' Adrionack wash which I promptly wiped off as it was very intense,
 I'd like to say a WIP but it's debateable whether I'll actually add anymore to it or not!

Waiting for Winter

I thought I'd make a Winter Wonderland journal in readiness for the snow, they keep promising it but there's not a flake to be had down here in the lowlands.  I chopped up a fabric napkin for my cover and added a tassely thing to hide the wonky seams, it always starts off looking straight... 

 love love love these colours

stamped vintage numbers ready for action

 I ripped out a couple pages that would have shown me how to write better

 I also cut up the pattern that would have shown me how to knit winter woollies, oh well

 and to finish a Sprüngli chocolate shop ribbon on the spine

 still waiting...

Postcard Challenge

I'm running a little late but have finally made a start on Darcy's fab postcard challenge

the idea is to create two characters who will visit different countries each week for a year (prompted by Darcy) and send each other postcards of their adventures.  I made myself a book to hold my card collection following the YouTube clip from Kerri that appears on Darcy's blog.  I covered the book with an old plastic post bag and Washi Tape around the edges  

 My characters Gloria Able and Jayne Good have been best mates for a lifetime and would normally do everything together however, owing to circumstances beyond their control they've set off on this world tour on their own. All of the events take place before the age of internet and iphones and the gals will keep track of each other via their itineries. 

Week 1- Austria:   Jayne Good (19) is a fun-loving gal but rather more sensible and level-headed than Gloria. 

 She's just arrived for a wellness week at 'The Abstaining Austrian' only to find herself snowed in and trapped in the hotel.  

With little else to do, she fashions a postcard for Gloria out of an old envelope and decorates it with a paper snowflake using the sewing kit in her room.

  Quite when she's going to beable to leave is anyone's guess...

 Week 2:  Gloria (18) the slightly more 'wayward' of the two gals and has joined a Contiki bus tour in Spain. She has a tough partying schedule ahead of her but is confident she can go the distance,

 this girl is ready to rock...

  I plan to decorate the pages of my folder at some stage but I still haven't decided what to do yet.
Check out the Linkys on Darcy's Blog to catch up with all the players, this is a fun challenge to follow!

All in good time

enter darling daughter: shriek! Mummy you've cut it, shriek! Mummy you've cut up your art! shriek! oh dear, was I not meant to do that? but... you know those projects you begin that go no further?  well this was one of them.  I started this map canvas ages ago with the intention of scattering the butterflies across a textured background, and then it all ground to a halt.  I lost half the unstuck butterflies and it got buried under a pile of stuff! 

 I figured the canvas would make a nice cover for something or perhaps an ATC or two which is what I ended up doing with it.  I cut them out long enough to fold and sew placing a couple of butterflies on the front and leaving the back plain.

I tucked a bit of muslin and frayed fabric under an offcut of my canvas and sewed around the edges.  I think they've turned out ok and now they can be seen and enjoyed, as for the rest of it, well...