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 

At last, another folded book......

Hello there friends - its lovely to be back with another folded book.  Its been a while but I've got a little workshop coming up at our local art gallery and we are making these books so I thought I'd better make another example.  So pleased with this one and I think the ladies will like it too.

The folding bit is what takes the time but then its so much fun thinking of a theme and searching through all the stamp sets to find a selection that will fit and then cutting out the images and placing them.  I think this example will sit really nicely in the gallery as they have a little antiques corner amongst all the lovely work from our local artists.  I'm really looking forward to this workshop now.

Hope you are having better weather where you are - its been rain, wind and even a little bit of snow here yesterday but at least we aren't flooded out like some people.  My heart goes out to them, especially when its happening so often.  Hope things improve soon for them.  Margie x.

Love is all you need.....

Hi there friends - I'm back with my Altered Book round robin pages for Kristen's book entitled "Love".  What a brilliant theme for this time of the year and I've really enjoyed playing in this lovely book.  Here's Kristen's cover - beautiful isn't it?

She had very kindly gesso'd all the inside pages so it was easy to get started with my spreads.  Here's the first one.

Its a bit difficult trying to get a good photo but I've tried holding back the pages with a couple of clips.  The left side was sponged with some Milled Lavender DI before stamping round the edges with a TH swirl stamp to provide a background for the lovely Cherish stamp which I stamped in gold ink then embossed - it looks a lot more sparkly in real life!  The paper pieced couple are from a Flonz stamp which I love and the words are from a Glitz stamp set.  The right hand page was painted with Dusty Concord before adding a torn piece of embossed paper rubbed with Treasure gold.  The little pocket and tag are meant to suggest a love note sent between the lovely couple - ahh,sweet!

For my second spread, I went a bit more to town on the background.

I stamped on the gesso then went over it with Vintage Lace Fresco chalk paint, mixed with a bit of Snowflake and wiped in places with a babywipe to show up the stamps.  Although you can't see it all on this pic, I then added some embossing paste details to give some texture and rubbed more Treasure Gold for shine before adding the image, words and a scrap of lace.  I like the romantic feel of these pages.

Well, Kristen's book will soon be winging its way to Australia and I should be receiving my next one to play with.  The theme of this one will be American South West, hmmmm - going to have to give that one some thought.

Thanks so much for popping by - its so nice to read your lovely comments. Hope everyone is enjoying some crafting time over the weekend - its far too wet and cold to be outside where we are.  Margie x

New beginnings.....

Well, its been a very long time since I've been on this blog but life has been so busy.  Now its 2014 and I'm ready to start heading in a new direction.  I've recently signed up to an Altered Books round robin which will see two groups of 12 crafters from the UK, USA and Australia circulating our books and adding art to each as they pass through our hands!

I'm so excited to be part of this venture and have sent my book off today to its first new home in Australia.  Each of us has a theme - mine is An English Garden and here's a few pics of my work.  Unfortunately, they are just scanned images as my camera decided not to play - just when I needed it!

This is the front cover done with Fresco chalk paints, some embossing paste, a bit of serviette, a TH rub-on and a lovely old image for the centre.  The hardware findings on the front were die-cut (TH again) then embossed and rubbed with chrome metallic gilding wax and fastened with tiny brads - I really like how they turned out.

On the back cover, I went for a softer look.

Again the embossing paste through a couple of stencils gave it texture which I brought out with some gilding wax.  My favourite Jane Austen stamp for the lady and then a little bird flying from its cage, helping this book to wing its way around the world!  I was a bit nervous that my book would get rather grubby over the months, so I gave it a good coating of Liquitex matte medium which went on really well.  I covered the spine with some washi tape to give added protection too.

Now inside, we were to add 2 two-page spreads to our own and everyone else's book to match in with the theme so here are mine.

I've really enjoyed working on this and am so grateful to Shelly Recicar for setting up the whole thing.  Bon voyage, little book - I'll see you again in a year's time!

Thanks so much for calling in to see me.  I hope everyone had a great Christmas and wish you all a wonderful and creative 2014.  I'd love to hear what you think of this idea and any comments would be much appreciated, as always.  Margie x

My little Christmas village

Hello there my blogging friends - hope you are starting to enjoy the preparations for Christmas.  I am definitely in the mood now and started making just one little house for a swap, then I got carried away and I can see this collection growing over the next few weeks - they are so addictive!

Just the right size to tuck a few little treats in too.  Think I'll have to get started on the cards soon though they won't be as much fun as these have been.  Thanks for stopping by to see me.  Margie x

A double dose of craftiness .....

Things may have been quiet around here but I certainly haven't!  I've had two crafting workshop weekends in a row and learned soooooo much in the process, my head hurts (in a good way!)

The first was at Art From The Heart in Harrogate with Kaz Hall where we learned some amazing techniques, getting very inky and painty in the process and finished off the session making a fantastic album.

Here's mine and you can see just how many different techniques we were shown which I'm really looking forward to trying again at home.

Next came my 3 day textile art workshop at Oxford, courtesy of a WI bursary I won which included the residential course as well as my travelling costs.  This was with the wonderful Marilyn Pike who does classes as Rainbow Silks and her enthusiasm was inspiring.  We worked late into the evening and between the 9 participants, produced a grand total of 29 books - each a keepsake in its own right.  We even hand-dyed the pages inside and, with a bit of help, I conquered my fear of the dreaded sewing machine - yay!

Here are my books and I'm so proud of them, I can't wait to show my WI ladies next Monday.

The book cover at the back is made from crumpled magazine pages glooped (technical term) and waxed so they are as pliable as material and the button fastening covered in the same way.  The material cover on the left of the pic is made from tiny strips of fabric bonded and stitched onto a piece of denim (from an old pair of jeans) and the cover on the right is made from the leg of the same pair of jeans folded over and covered with torn strips of fabric and shiny magazine pages.  I love that one which has a pocket at the front as well as the pages stitched inside. 

I feel so priviledged to have had these two weekends of crafting heaven with such great tutors and to have made some new friends along the way.  Hope you are all well and enjoying some wonderful crafting time yourselves.  Thanks so much for popping in to see me.  Margie x