Not resting on my laurels!

Hello All,

Well after the excitement of my first design team blogs (many thanks for all

kind comments) I now have to deal with the horror of deadlines...aaarrrrghhh.

Time just flies!

But today I thought I would take some time for a small CMC project.

So here is......Steam Punk Rock (get it?)

When I make things I tend to just start with an idea in my head, without much

planning, and see what grows. Confession....when doing my City and Guilds course

I always made the final product first and did the sketchbook work afterwards.

This rock started like this

with some black gesso. I applied stencilled tissue paper using gloss gel medium

and toned it down a bit with a rub of Treasure Gold

very good.

Then I covered it all up!

Ah well........

All the stamps are from PaperArtsy.

Bye for now..back to the deadlines.

The third day.

Hello All,

Just a quick reminder that today is my third and final (for this week) project

for the PaperArtsy blog.

Here's a peek.........

To see what and how take a look HERE.

Hope you have enjoyed the projects so far. Back with PaperArtsy next month but in the

meantime join me for more Cutting My Coat ideas.

Day 2... and a sad bird.

Hi all,

Today is my second day on the PaperArtsy blog. The theme for all three posts is

3-D construction because that's the way I like to think.

This sad bird

 was homeless :(

Go over to the blog HERE to see him in his new home.

Minimal stitching required!

Bye for now, back again tomorrow.

Steampunk Cats......go round.

Hello again,

A few people have expressed an interest in the Steampunk Cat carousel on my blog for

PaperArtsy last evening so I thought I would post a couple more pictures. This large

version is made in exactly the same way as the small one............but bigger. The cat

is from the set Eclectica EDY06 by Darcy.

If you haven't seen the instructions you can find them HERE.

Back this evening........

The time has come.........

To announce (at last!) that I have been CHOSEN to be on the DESIGN TEAM for

PaperArtsy!   How good is that :)

It means that I get to play with all their newest products and share ideas with lots of

like-minded creative people.

For the next three nights you will be able to see where this has taken me so far......

So please head over to the PaperArtsy blog HERE and enjoy!

Sneaky peek.......

.......it just IS.

Hello again,

Yesterday was a birthday (trying to stop counting) so had a good excuse to do what I
wanted with my time.

I gave the dog a haircut, and then I started on my box transformation.

I rummaged in my fabric box (one of them!) to find something suitable for an
under-the-sea theme. Then using a fabric ink pad, stamped leafy seaweedy things, cut
them out and coloured them with Inktense pencils.
 (These watercolour ink pencils become permanent when brushed
with water and then dried.)
 I ironed them onto the background using Bondaweb, and
added a few fishes in the same way.

I used this to cover the base of the box and added a bit of net trim.

I covered the lid with the same fabric.

Then more fishes, octopuses (octopi?), and crabs (slightly stuffed), and two on dangly
braid for a bit of movement.

The pebbles on the lid are slightly stuffed gathered circles of fabric, and the flowers
are from a set from PaperArtsy (Eclectica EDY05).

Oh and I added some little wooden feet and a bit more braid. It reminds me of 17th
century stump work.

But what's it for?

but what's it for.........

Hi there (looking shameful),

Apologies for long absence. Where does time go?

I have not been totally idle, just had a few practical dressmaking jobs to do and a bit of travelling.

Now back on track and ready for the next "Cutting my Coat" project.

First a quick word about choosing which direction to go. As a Jack-of-all-trades with a very low boredom threshold, I tend to flit about between mediums, following my muse (when I am lucky enough to have one!). The people I admire most are those who absolutely know where they are going and just DO IT.

Quote Mum:   "That's nice..........but what's it for?"
Me:                 "It's not FOR...........it just IS"

But still most things I do have a "FOR".

Today I randomly picked out two things to start with

The box I picked up in the charity shop as a possible altering project. The stamps are Dylusions
from Art From the Heart.
Hopefully this will develop over the next few days.............