And now for something completely different - Magazine art!

Have you ever looked at that pile of glossy magazines, hating to throw them out but not knowing what to do with them?  Here's the answer - make art.

The original idea was to make a table out of four magazines but I haven't got that far yet.  If you want to see how easy it is though, take a look here at Freshly Found.  Amazing.  Thanks for stopping by to see me.  Margie x

New Crafting Challenge starting up shortly

Just a quick note to let you know about a new craft challenge starting up on 5th July.  Its being sponsored by Crafts-Too and you can read all about it here

Sounds like it will be fun!  Love, Margie x

Box of tricks

Hello from ever-so sunny Northumberland again - can't believe we are having such a good spell of weather when other areas are turning cold and windy!  The garden could do with a bit of rain though - preferably overnight!

Here's another project made for a swap at our craft class after the teacher showed us how to make these super-easy milk cartons.  I had a go with my new Wendy Vecchi word stencils and the grunge paste and think I just have to accept it being a little bit messy.  Had fun with the decoration and filling the box with lots of crafting goodies for the recipient.  The box I received in return was full of lovely quilled flowers and butterflies - a craft I have never quite mastered so I was really pleased with my swap.

Hope you are all enjoying a little bit of sunshine wherever you are.  Love, Margie x

Live, Laugh, Love

Well, the sunshine is still with us I'm pleased to say so I decided to change my blog background to give it a more summery feel.  Haven't had that much time for crafting lately but I did make this birthday card for my friend who loves to receive cards that "do something"!  Hope she likes this one - I went a bit overboard with the decoration.....

I really like the LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE free stamp with Craft Stamper this month and think I'll use that a lot.

Hope you are enjoying the sun wherever you are.  Margie x

At Home

Another lovely sunny day spent visiting an old mansion house in the Scottish Borders where the rhododendrons are just coming out in flower.  I've never seen so many colours from pale cream through to deep crimson and even scented gold ones!  It was amazing walking around the lake and then visiting the house with 25 bedrooms and the huge servants' quarters.  I was amused by the array of bells in the basement used to summon the servants to the upstairs rooms and wondered how long it took to run up and down the stairs to see to the needs of the masters.  There was even a bell alongside the roll-top bath!  Very Downton Abby.

Here's a simple card I made for my sister using one of my Gibson Girls stamps from Flonzcraft, a New Zealand company I was introduced to by my blogging friend Shirl

I think this Gibson Girl would have been very much at home at Manderston House today!

Thanks for popping to see me and I hope your day has been a good one too.  Margie x

Life's a Stitch

Not much time for crafting today as it was such a glorious day we took off to the nearby bluebell woods with the dogs and we weren't disappointed.  The perfume of the gorgeous carpet of flowers bathed in the sunshine was so strong and there were still plenty of primroses around too.

Here's a card I made for a crafty friend's birthday though - copied from one I received for my own birthday but I didn't get it quite right.  Not to worry, I still think it looks OK and I really liked the effect of the Rose Quartz Treasure Gold rubbed onto my new Haberdashery die cuts.  It really looks like metal.

The paper is of course, Tim Holtz and the little card of darning thread was picked up at a recent vintage fabrics sale.  I love cards that have a bit of movement like this and will have to have another go at getting the measurements exactly right.

Hope you've all had a beautiful day too - long may it last.  Thanks for popping in to see me.

Oh my deers!

We've been used to seeing a deer at the bottom of the field behind our house where we exercise the dogs but hadn't seen her for a while.  Then today, we saw this lovely sight for sore eyes and had to share it with you!

So pleased we can provide a safe haven for them and the mum must know we aren't a threat as she was there for ages!  Oh, I just love living in the countryside.  Margie x

Precious Moment

Hello again to all my blogging friends and new followers.  This is my second DT project for Our Creative Corner - it was just brilliant to see the amazing response to last month's challenge.  Hope you all have a go at this months Recipe challenge too.  

So, how to get involved. You need to choose at least one element from each list below and include them in your project. If you want to add more that's fine, go for it!

List A	List B	List C
Lace	Metal	Inks
Fabric	Wood/MDF	Paints
Ribbon	Clay	Stains

What you do with them is up to you. We'd love to see your tags, altered art, mixed media, journalling, 3D art, ATC's, and cards. It would really help if you could list the ingredients you've used to make judging your fabulous entries easier.

As I knew I would be away on holiday, I thought I had planned everything I would need to make my project while I was in the cottage but it never works quite that way does it?  For some reason, I just wanted to make a shrine - I had this gorgeous Paper Whimsey little girl image with me and of course, the lace, the metal clock face and quite a few paints and inks but no shrine!  Ah well, I put the thinking cap on and made my own from card.

Here's how I did it if you fancy having a go.  I had the waste shape left from a label so I drew round that, lengthening the sides a little then cut that out for the back of the shrine.  The next layer used the same waste shape but with a thin border cut around it to make a frame for the image. I added an extra layer at the top for the arch. Then I cut the original shape in half and reversed the halves to make the opened doors.  All the layers were stacked up with sticky fixers.  Hope that makes sense - its easier to do than describe!

I wanted to make the card look like wood so used crackle fluid between two layers of Fresco paint in Irish Cream and Honey Dew and was really pleased at how that worked.  The wings were from a Tim Holtz die and I painted them in Irish Cream and stamped the edges before adding some Rubn'buf for a bit of shine, then the watch face and words.

I made the flowers using three six-petalled shapes for each one, curling the petals round with a cocktail stick and touching them with Rubn'buf in gold.  The chain was added so I could hang the shrine and its currently proudly displayed in my craft room.  Hope you like it too and maybe have a go at making one?

Really looking forward to see what everyone makes this month.  Don't forget to pop over to Our Creative Corner and see what my teamies have made this month - you'll be inspired.Thanks so much for popping in and if you leave me a comment, that would be so nice.