Friday 30 August 2013

Cards... yeah I know... I don't 'do' cards...

A card for my Mum... who trod on her cat's tail and promptly fell over in her kitchen... and is now covered in bruises and a bump on her head... she is 80 and tends not to bounce as much as she used to! 
This is a close-up... my Dad's name was Scott.... so a nice touch eh?
and I had the Tim Holtz bird cage die out and the Graphic 45 Secret Garden papers were still on my desk... so I made this one too!  Now I just need to make some envelopes for them... because I never plan the size of the card to suit envelopes that I have already!  That's a dead give away that I am not a card maker, isn't it?  



Wednesday 28 August 2013

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday 221

This is my work desk this Wednesday morning... you can see I am in the process of altering a Pringles tub into a cotton reel.  Graphic45 Secret Garden papers and a TH bird cage are on the desk.  A small pile of stamps that I bought at the weekend and a lovely card from Annie... you may just be able to see the cutest wee teddy in the shopping trolley at the back of the desk, he really is adorable and I have no idea how Annie makes something so small!
Close up of the cotton reel... its work in progress...
the birdcage... not sure if it will end up on the cotton reel yet, it may just end up as a card to go with the reel.
Last weekend Chris took me up to Melany at the Sunshine Coast, its about an hour and half away by car, and we passed the Glass House Mountains on the way up... this one is Tibrogargan... in Aboriginal legend he is supposed to be a hunched gorilla looking out to sea... can you see him? 
So it was a lovely day and we visited the quilt shop in Melany, Quiltopia, and I bought some fabric.
and Ann, the lady that owned the shop gave me a fat quarter of cow material that I had been admiring...
So I made myself a messenger bag! LOL  I think I may be the only person in Brisbane who has a cow bag...
and on the way back down the mountain roads we passed a scrapbooking shop!! So Chris pulled in and I got to do some stash shopping.
and we had lunch out too.. so it was a really good trip and cheered me up after a miserable allergic to the tape on my stitches week! :)
If you would like to check out all the other desks pop on over to the leader of the desk snoop, Julia and link yourself up for a tour of the world!!

Tuesday 27 August 2013

T on Tuesday

Here I am with my cup of tea to join Elizabeth for T on Tuesday.
Behind my cup of tea are some cards I have been playing with this morning... see, it all started like this... I was looking at twinchies on a blog and I loved them so I thought I would give the idea a go! Now Sam says they are encaustic twinchies... and mentioned crayons and beads and stuff... so I go and search for encaustic medium and realise pretty quickly that I have nothing in my stash that is going to allow me to do encaustic anything... plus it looks like that stuff gets hot! 
Now, not having the ingredients didn't slow me down at all ( perhaps it should have) so I decided that improvisation is the key especially as I know for a fact that my local Spar won't have dufar crystals on the shelf!  So I slapped some gel medium, well it's a medium of sorts, onto a piece of chipboard, added some gold and silver paint to it, spread it a bit thicker... nope, it doesn't look like Sam's examples at all...
So I go and find a couple of tealight candles... they are wax right? Yes, I know she said she used beeswax but I don't have any of that either and I am pretty sure the local Spar doesn't keep that in stock either. LOL One was a burgandy shade and the other was a golden colour... so I let them burn for a while till there was a good puddle of wax and added that to the chipboard... and then I sort of flung anything I could find on top... little seed beads, chips of glass/plastic, 
and when it had all cooled down a bit I chopped the chipboard into 2 inch squares...
and this morning I look at the pile of twinchies and wonder what on earth am I going to do with them?
So I made some simple cards... 
I still have a couple of bits left... so if I need a card for something in the next few days people should be afraid... very afraid!! LOL

Wednesday 21 August 2013

WOYWW 220

This is my desk early on Wednesday morning here in less than warm Brisbane!  I have a nice hot latte to keep the fingers from freezing up while I make a card... a male card... a male get well card... yep, it doesn't get harder than that!  My eldest brother is going into hospital for an op on Friday so I thought I would make him a card... not sure if it will help with his recuperation or set him back a week! LOL
At the back is the little twinchies book I made yesterday and to the right is my ATG gun on its stand... if you want a stand for yours, I have a tutorial to make this version here.
This is as far I have got... and my Mojo has hopped off to warmer climes or something so I am stuck... not sure what to add... 
Now how is that for a short and sweet WOYWW post?  LOL
Pop on over to Julia's for the linky list of desks to visit... some cluttered, some pristeen, lots of inspiration and lovely people to meet.

Tuesday 20 August 2013

The Little Twinchies Book

I was reading Neet's Artful Times challenge for this week and decided to give it a go because though I have done inchies in the past, I have never made twinchies!  So what is a girl to do? She makes a little itty bitty twinchies book!
Techhnically, the cover doesn't count, because they are just over the 2 inch mark... and I decorated the spine  with a chippy pocket watch and little glass bottle instead of the front cover because with the hidden hinge binding it gives a broad spine to work with.
but all the pages are 2 inches square... so 12 twinchies in all!
and this is one of my favourite themes and songs: Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce
and yes, the lyrics are all there... in size 5 font! ;)
If I could save time in a bottle
the first thing that I'd like to do
is to save every day
til eternity passes away
just to spend them with you
If I could make days last forever
if words could make wishes come true
I'd save every day like a treasure and then
again, I would spend them with you
but there never seems to be enough time
to do the things you want to do
once you find them
I've looked around enough to know
that your the one I want to go
through time with
if I had a box just for wishes
and dreams that had never come true
the box would be empty
except for the memory
of how they were answered by you
but there never seems to be enough time
to do the things you want to do
once you find them
I've looked around enough to know
that your the one I want to go
through time with
The pages are little pockets which hold tags...
cardstock tags with transparencies coloured with alcohol inks
which swivel back to reveal journaling space beneath
the transparencies were embossed with Tim Holtz pocket watches folder before I alcohol inked them.
and just to keep them tidy, I added smaller tags on the backs with patterned papers.
Used lots of time emphemera and stamps and the papers are Fancy Pants It's the little things 6 x 6 pad which were perfect for this teeny size book.
I had a great time playing with this challenge!

T on Tuesday

I am joining Elizabeth for T on Tuesday... with hot chocolate!  It has been lovely and warm the last few days so the sudden drop in temperature last night caught me out this morning.  The sun is now out and the house is warming up nicely so I think I will sip my hot chocolate and sew a few beads on my snippet roll.
Here is a close up of the snippet roll...
and in this one you can see the paper beads I sat and made to hang from some of the snippets of material.
I am feeling a little sorry for myself today... I had a mole thing removed from under my boob yesterday and have 6 stitches holding me together at the moment (LOL) and they hurt... and I am not allowed to do anything strenuous in case I pull the stitches... which is why I am sitting with a needle and thread instead of vacuuming the house or mopping the floors... ;)
If you are wondering what a snippet roll is you can see how to make one here... they are quite fun and you get use up all the little strips of fabric and lace that you might have hanging about after finishing a project.

Wednesday 14 August 2013

WOYWW 219

and here we all are ready to tour the world squinting into other peoples' craft areas!  You will be amazed at how neat some folk are while crafting and truly gobsmacked at what wonderful things others can make in their own little mess!! Pop over to Julia, our esteemed leader of noseyness, and check out all the fun.
This is my desk this morning... the little dressform is still waiting for her final transformation and on my desk are three large pretend buttons that I made to go on my quilt and rejected... they just didn't sit right so I made some smaller versions that I am happier with.
Here is my Graphic 45 Communique quilt on its new home on the sofa in the family room...
It got the Tom-Tom seal of approval too!  You can also see that I had enough material to make a quilted cushion for the sofa...
Not bad eh?  
and what do you think of my newly invented double binding?  LOL  I wanted a black border around the panel but I also wanted a patterned binding... so I sewed the black binding to the front and the wider patterned binding to the back and the sewed them together... and yes, it was a major faff but it looks so nice I did the same thing to the cushion... a beggar for punishment.. that's me!
and the beady eyed will notice that above the sofa is a picture... which I have 'altered' slightly!! LOL
It used to look like this... and when we were putting the pictures up a few weeks ago, Chris mentioned that he had never really liked it... so I thought he wouldn't mind me playing with it... at least, I think it was that one he said he didn't like... its been changed for 3 days and he hasn't noticed yet so I think I got away with it..

This is the first set of buttons I did...
and this is the second set... still on the fence post about them...
I love how the puffed up bits look on it... they were fun to do... NOT!!  
So with the altered TV unit with the Communique papers and the Ikea box on the top... think that is my family room sorted quite nicely for now!


Tuesday 13 August 2013

T on Tuesday

I am joining Elizabeth for T on Tuesday with..... TEA! Chai tea to be exact.  It's my first try at making it myself... and it has a lovely scent of cinnamon and spices and tastes pretty good too!
I have taken the dress form wire thingy from the family room and thought I would make her a dress with the offcuts from my Graphic 45 material.  I think she is meant to hold necklaces and things but she is very handy for holding all the charger wires for the cell phones and tablets, which is why she lives in the family room, next to the drawers I decorated for chargers.

so the chai and dress form are joining me for T.  I know, all dress designers and seamstresses the world over can sleep peacefully in their beds tonight, having no fear that I will be running rampant with my dressmaking 'skills'!!  I am hoping she will look a bit better once I have added one or two (or more) touches... LOL