Cowboys and Indians!

Hello there dear friends.  I'm here with another couple of spreads made for the altered book round robin I joined and this book was entitled American South West which really had me thinking.  Anyway, when I saw what had already been done and the kind inclusion of some images from the book's owner, I got stuck in - literally.......

Here's the first spread which is for the cowboys:

I really liked that the words on the right hand page had already been provided - that gave me a feel for this spread and I enjoyed adding the textured ferns and the stencilled big stars.  The cactii picture was printed on tissue paper which was mod podged onto the already gesso'd page which I coloured with some Stormy Sky and Bundled Sage DIs.  The bird is probably totally out of place for the desert but I liked it anyway.

The next spread for the indians is my favourite:

 

I started off with this fabulous picture of a Hopi indian and wanted it to look dark and ghostly so again I printed it off onto tissue paper and then mod podged it onto dark brown paper - I loved the effect but it needed brightening with the gold feathers and stars.  On the left hand page, this very colourful Kachina doll was an eye-catching image and I discovered that the colours they used all had meanings which I included on the page.  

A really interesting book and theme to work on and tomorrow this will be winging its way to Australia and my next book will be with me soon.  I hope its a girly or flowery theme this time!

Thanks for popping in to see me - I love to read any comments you are kind enough to leave for me.  Its been a gorgeous day here in the North East of England and I'm hoping that's a sign that Spring is on its way!

Margie x

My 50p bargain box - altered, of course!

Hi there my blogging friends and I hope the weather is treating you a bit more kindly.  I went to a Collectables Fair recently and was very pleased to come away with a nice haul of old books, vintage keys, dominoes, boxed games and a battered old round box which was a mere 50p!

I just wish I'd taken a pic of it before I started but I forgot so you'll just have to imagine the horrible red colour and the peeling paper.  But I knew it had potential and wanted to make a lovely gift box for my friend's 65th birthday present.  So here it is.

 I covered the box with some beautiful K&Co Blue Awning papers (another bargain from ages ago) then decorated the edges with lace and white flower trimming.  The focal image is from a sheet called Waterhouse Flowers from Alpha Stamps digital images - a really lovely sheet.  The frame around it was an old green hessian one which I've dabbed some cream acrylic paint over to lighten it. In this next picture, you can see the labels I've cut from the Madame Payraud papers - fast becoming a favourite of mine and the beautiful silk flowers given to me by a friend who used to do flower arranging. 

Thanks so much for calling to to see me and I love to read any comments you have.  Enjoy the break in the weather while it lasts, I hear the UK is in for more storms next week but our friends over in some parts of the US are having even tougher times.  Margie x

Thank you to Neet for the suggestion - I'm entering this into the Artful Times Challenge Blog here