Birdsong

Hello dear friends - it seems like ages since I posted but I've been on holiday and spent some time with my eldest son and his wife which was lovely as we don't see them often enough.  We stayed in a cottage so I did get some time to do a bit of crafting on the rainy days (and there were a few!)

Here's an ATC I made for an upcoming swap. The background was done with Fresco Paint in Irish Cream and Honeydew.  I wanted some layers on it so I added a piece of coarse material topped with some French script stamped in Aquamarine Archival ink onto paper and then torn and edged with Coffee archival ink.

The birds nest and word stamps are from a lovely Oxford Impressions set called Come Fly with Me and I coloured the nest and eggs with watercolour paints.  The button was handmade by die-cutting about six button shapes and gluing these together, topping the finished stack with Glossy Accents.  As you can see from the detail below, there were a few bubbles left which I should have pricked with a pin but it still looks OK.

I've tied it on with a piece of silk thread then added a strip of lace to the bottom of the ATC and its done.  Although it looks quite pale in the pictures, the blue shows up quite well.  Enjoyed making this one as I often feel I don't get enough detail on my ATCs. 

Hope you've managed to get a little bit of sunshine wherever you are - we had the most amazing sunset tonight, I just hope its a sign of better weather ahead.  Thanks so much for coming to see me. 
Love, Margie x

Bloomin' Lovely ......

Hello friends,

Had a lovely afternoon trying out a few techniques I learned from my good friend Anne who also very kindly gifted me some supplies to make this ATC.  Her background technique is explained here and I used Seedless Preserved Distress Paint and Fresco Finish in Snowflake for it which worked brilliantly together.  Then the fun bit with the texture paste - Anne suggested sprinkling this while it was still wet with various colours of Perfect Pearls - I used Heirloom Gold and Green Patina, then dried that with the heat gun - oooh, lovely effect!

A bit of lace across the top then the gorgeous JOFY stamps, coloured using my neglected watercolour pencils and a water pen.  Love that butterfly topped with a few coloured stones.

Thanks Anne - really enjoyed getting messy and I've got quite a few more ATC backgrounds ready to go!  Thanks also to my followers - I do appreciate you coming along to see me and any comments you leave too.   Margie x


I'm entering this in the Fun with ATC's Challenge: Texture

Got any "o's"? Domino book.

Inspired by Shirl to make a domino book, I only had the chipboard dominoes so thought I'd round the corners to make it more interesting.  Bad move - it meant I had to round all the pages and the images too!

Then after decorating the back of the book, I thought there's just enough pages to spell out the word DOMINOES and began sticking the letters before I realised I only had 1 "o" left.  Which started my husband off on the old Two Ronnies Four Candles sketch in the hardware shop.  If you've never seen it before, you're in for a treat.

Anyway, I thought the clock face did well for an "o" and the front of the book went a bit more smoothly until I tried to use an old rub-on and the backing plastic just wouldn't come off - so its there for eternity!

Quite pleased with how it turned out for my first domino book but I'm sure I'll be making another one.

Thanks for the inspiration Shirl - really enjoyed that one.  Thanks to everyone who has sent lovely messages to me over the past week, I did appreciate them all.  Great to see you here again!  Margie xx

When you wonder if its all worthwhile........

Today I learned that my good friend had passed away after just a week in our local hospice where she was cared for in a very loving environment.  The last thing she asked me to do for her was to make a birthday card for her darling daughter last Saturday, which I was more than happy to do. 

If ever you wonder (like I have)  if what you do makes a difference, believe me, my crafty friends, the difference you can make with a card or a gift, hand crafted with love, is huge.  I am so pleased I had a small part in my friend's last message to her daughter and I know it was appreciated.

I thank you all for your friendship and support.  Love, Margie xx