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

What a doll!

A very big welcome to all of you who have popped over from Our Creative Corner after looking at our first challenge "Anything Goes".  Thank you to all my followers too for your support on my little blog.

For my first creation on the Our Creative Corner design team, I thought it would be fun to use the new Julie Nutting mixed media doll stamp to decorate a journal for a new crafting friend of mine who is 9, going on 19!  She wants to be a dress designer and she has such confidence, I think she could be anything she chooses to be!

I used some delicious K&Co Blue Awning papers for the background, the doll's dress and her shoes - don't you just love those beads on her shoes!  

A Prima tag was stamped with flourishes, more paper added and some lovely pieces of vintage material and lace tucked in behind my Copic coloured doll.  The flower was painted with Fresco Chalk as was the little doll bookmark but I'm not very good at faces so prefer the blank-faced doll myself.  Inside the front cover is a little pocket to hold some blank "dolls" stamped and cut out ready to be coloured and dressed as desired.

The back cover was more of the same paper, stamped with some of my favourite stamps of the moment from Oxford Impressions and then some very appropriate Tim Holtz chit chat stickers.

It took me back many years making this and I hope my little friend likes it too.  Hope you'll enjoy what the team has made for you and we look forward to seeing your Anything Goes entries.  Don't forget, there'll be more inspiration from the rest of the Our Creative Corner team on the 15th.

Thank you so much for coming to see me - I'd really love any comments you'd be kind enough to leave me.

Margie xx

An easel in the sunshine .....

No I'm not actually painting - just showing off  my easel card.  Its just a quick pic this afternoon as its really  sunny and warm here in Northumberland and I'm making the most of it in the garden!

Actually took this pic outside on the garden table so its a bit bright and I turned it slightly so you could see that its an easel card.  When you make a birthday card for a fellow crafter, you have to do something a little different, don't you?

Hope you'll pop back tomorrow to see my first make for the Our Creative Corner Design Team.  So excited about our first challenge and looking forward to seeing what you all submit.

See you tomorrow!  Margie x

Exciting (and sad) times........

Sad because I had to make a card for a very good friend who is really poorly in a nearby hospice but is receiving fantastic care.  I actually managed to get the texture paste to behave for the first time on this one after many failed attempts so I'll be using it again.

Excited because I've actually reached 50 followers now and also just noted that this is my 100th post!  What a time to tell you about my great news - being invited to join a fantastic team for the re-launch of the challenge blog, Our Creative Corner.  Its a bit scary for me, being the first time I've ever been on a Design Team but the other members are all wonderful and I know I'm going to have some fun.

If you've been on Our Creative Corner before, you'll know how friendly it was and it will definitely stay the same but with a new format, a fresh new look and some great challenges for you.  The new team will be looking forward to seeing you when we open the doors.  Please pop over and say hello!

I'm so proud to display my badge .........