Friendly Plastic Workshop with Liz Welsh

We had the most wonderful day, yesterday, when Liz Welch came to Victoria Stampers to give us a friendly plastic workshop. It was such fun and we learned so much from Liz who is an excellent friendly tutor. Although we did so many techniques it was really relaxing with no pressure and plenty of time to play, and still natter a little as we always do. Liz was so giving of her knowledge and skills and so patient and lovely to everyone.

We oozed, squidged, rolled, cut out, moulded, used metallic leaf. We learned how to use up waste bits, make beads and patchwork etc., etc!!

There is a lot of room for improvement and I can identify my mistakes but I really enjoyed learning so many techniques and fully intend to continue working with FP in the future.

One of our group commented that she didn't know she could have so much fun with a piece of copper pipe ( her rolling pin) FP and some water! 

I look forward to the next one, for sure!

Tag Bags and Sunhats

I played around and crafted yesterday to take my mind off missing my family so much. I decided to go back to something I made last year and had never fully developed. The idea of these little cloth bags is that they should be gift bags and cards all in one unit but then I was thinking recently that the card could be a book. I have also made them with the tags coming from the sides and with lots of tags along the bottom but I have given them away and don't have any photos.

This is my latest version with a torn edged book and ribbons. I've also machine embroidered the leaves, trapping voile under the stitches, and I sewed beads onto the centres of the swirls.

Below are some of my original ideas from last year. The centre one I made for a challenge, (the theme was School Days) and it represents a dinner money bag. It has a key, as many children those days were "Latch Key Kids" and had the key on a string to let themselves into an empty house after school, whilst their parents were working.

I made three sun hats last week for my grandees and I'm on my 4th ....now we  just need the sun! I love to knit and crochet in waste time... ie., watching TV or travelling as a passenger in the car, as then there is something to show for the time. I just make things up as I go along so they are unique items that cannot be bought in shops. I'm always thrilled that my family really appreciates the items I make. My DD2 chose the colours for the baby's striped hat and I think it's a lovely combination.

 

No... it's not snow! I just had to photograph the bottom end of our garden as all the flowers were dropping from the 7 neighbouring Chestnut trees, which overhang from the adjoining school field, and it looks so beautiful. Each year I forget this sight and then it happens. 


Click on this picture for an enlarged version which really shows the masses of tiny flowers and you may spot one of my fairies in the bushes on the right and my Buddha in the middle of the path.

Silver Clay/ Yorkshire Weekend Catch up

I'm feeling sad today as I miss my DD2 and gorgeous little grandee who have been staying with us but went back to Germany yesterday. It was wonderful to have them here and spend precious time together. The little one is growing so beautiful and bright .... it was such fun.
Catch up time now with my crafting and blogging to brighten me up and take my mind off missing them so much.
The weekend before they arrived we spent in Yorkshire where I took the Silver Clay course, which I had won at the Aintree Show. We stayed for 4 days and had a great time..... great hotel, food and lots of interesting places.
The course was so good and Tracey is an excellent teacher and with only 7 in the class we had plenty of attention from her. We made 3 pieces of jewellery, covering silver clay, paste and liquid,  learning enough basic techniques and skills to continue at home. However I will certainly take an advance course as soon as I can as I enjoyed it soooo much.
The flower shaped piece used stamping to create texture onto the clay and the tiny flower was cut out and inserted into the larger one.
The leaf pendant was made from a real leaf using the silver paste.
The heart was made by syringing a more "liquidy' paste.

Craftworx Studio is on a farm in an idyllic country setting and there were quite a few other artists' studios on site. 

The village pond with lots of ducks

We visited an old working windmill at nearby Skidby and bought flour made that day to make bread at home.

The local restaurant had a wonderful cake of the windmill

The beautiful Beverley Minster was only 10 minutes away.

The weather was wonderfully warm and sunny so we drove to the coast to visit Bridlington. There was an Art Fest on so we visited some exhibitions and also the old town which has the longest Georgian Street in England. There was an amazing craft shop, "Ultima", selling local art, which was once an apothecary and it still had all the old shelves, apothecary jars and chests of drawers with porcelain labels on them. The lovely owner showed us old photographs and told us about it's history.

In Bridlington the seagulls nested on almost every rooftop near the harbour. Amazing but such a mess.

We drove home (straight across East to West from one coast of England to the other) without using motorways, which was so much nicer, and we passed through interesting little towns and villages we wouldn't have seen. Amazingly it didn't take more then a  half hour longer!
Can't wait to go back.

Vintage & Modern Art

I've been missing from blogland this past week or so but I've posted some bits and bobs I prepped and saved in advance. Last week I went to Yorkshire for the jewellery course which I was lucky to have won and it was a fantastic few days. Since then I've had my DD2 and lovely grandee visiting from Germany..... precious time, so blogging has taken a rest for a while. Will be back in a couple of days with all that happened in the interim but here's another I prepared earlier, "Blue Peter" style blog post...........


I've just finished these two Deco pages for one of my group swaps (KCUK) and the theme is "Vintage".

I hope Linda likes them and that they aptly fit into her book. I'm puzzled that one of the cameos cracked more than the other, despite being the same card and despite my using the same amount of Crackle Glaze.

When I went into the city centre the other day I was surprised to see this piece of public art had been removed then I remembered that it was only on loan to the city. Luckily I had photographed it and I will really miss having another look at the detail each time I walk from the car or bus into town. 

The Pillar of Friendship

 A collaboration of Master Blacksmiths, from all over the world, brought together by the British Artist Blacksmiths Association. Each unit designed and made by a different artist blacksmith and represents their interpretation of friendship. I photographed the information but unfortunately missed a couple of artist's names and sadly cannot find them on the net to give them credit. 

1) Adrain Wood UK           2) Helen Roberts UK             

3) Heiner Zimmermann     4) Kheir Aker Palestine

5) Sergiy Pulubotko Ukraine 6) Martin Briedenbach Germany 

7) Rick Smith USA        8) ???

9) Jim Horrobin UK        10) Abed Abdi Palestine

11) Bethan Griffiths UK     12) ???

13) Uri Hofi Israel    14) Igor Andruchin Russia

I just love so many elements in the pieces and keep seeing more gems of detail each time I look.

I especially love these figures below, reminiscent of Giacometti's art, and today I noticed that the right hand figure is pregnant and they are all holding gingko leaves.

Tag card, ATC & more Irish oddities

I've been playing around making this card but I'm trying to do it from memory. A few years ago my friend Linda sent me a similar one and I have been trying to remember how it was made. Linda's was much better than mine so I think I'll have to keep playing to improve it, but you can get the idea from the photograph. I do like the shaded coloured swirls which were stamped with a Kaleidacolor ink pad, Caribbean Sea.

I'm also ahead of myself, for a change, as I have made my ATC for the June workshop of Vicky Stampers, and the theme is... "Childhood". I'm looking forward to it as we will have Liz Welch as tutor giving us her expert knowledge on Friendly Plastic.

When I was looking for the "Elephant in Ireland" photo a few days ago I also found these following pictures (and lots more) which reminded me of other Irish Oddities during that holiday. 

We drove from Dingle round the Sneem Peninsular and stopped off for a cuppa when we spotted a giant teapot sign on the roadside. There were ducks and chickens in the garden and when we went into the "cafe" we thought we had wandered into someone's living room by mistake. We HAD wandered into someone's living room but it wasn't a mistake... it WAS the cafe! We were about to tippy toe out when we received a lovely welcome from the friendly owner of the place who told us to sit down and make ourselves comfortable. There was a Robin flying round our heads, occasionally settling on the computer or the TV. That's it, not an ornament, looking so perky on the TV in the pic. We wondered if, oddly, it was a tamed pet one but, when I mentioned it, the lady saw it and panicked so I had to do a rescue job by throwing my silk scarf over the Robin  to catch it to get it out safely, in time to stop her swatting it!

There was no water to be seen or found anywhere near this road sign!!!

Phone box and The Pub in Clonakilty, or I should say one of the MANY pubs!

Cead Mile Failte

A hundred thousand welcomes, which is just what everyone gets in Ireland!

Garden Bunting & Camper Van

I had this idea to make bunting, especially for the garden, to use as decorations for BBQs and other social gatherings. It has to be waterproof, to cope with the unreliable English weather, so I made it from clear plastic table covering fabric, which is quite cheap to buy, and stamped it with Ranger Dabbers. I used stamps without too much detail as the acrylic paint in Dabbers really clogs the grooves, so always have a bowl of water ready to wash them frequently. Once it dries it's ON and is so difficult to remove. It looks very effective especially on bushes or trees that aren't in flower. I suppose you could spell out greetings or names too for special occasions.

Oops, I missed the birthday of my DD1's partner so made him a special card and, as he loves camper vans, this fitted the bill perfectly. I love the quotes on it, which are on a travel plate by Club Stamp.

Knots, Jewels, Toulouse Lautrec and Picasso

I went mad and got knotting all my short ends of Mizuhiki cords and in an evening whilst watching the talking wallpaper (TV) I made over 40 friendship knots. It's an ideal time filler on car trips and I've even made them on flights with ready cut cords. So easy when you know how!! I'm getting prepared in advance for a Japanese exhibition later in the year as I will need hundreds!

I also decided to make some fairly quick, simple Asian cards (still using those backgrounds from last Saturday!!) but by adding a Mizuhiki knot it makes them that bit special and individual.

Yeh!!! and woo hoo! Some great news to share... I have won a day course making Silver Clay jewellery. I entered the competition at the Aintree Show as I've always wanted to try this craft and I'm so lucky to have won. 

It is with Tracey Spurgin at her Craftworx studios and, in a day, we will make 3 pieces of jewellery. ( Not the ones shown, I might add)

This is some of the gorgeous stuff on her website. I did silversmithing for some time but working with the clay seems easier and less hazardous. 

Take a peek at some of the gorgeous pieces on Tracey's Craftworx website

I found out today that there are so many exciting, "must see", exhibitions in the city this Summer. Amongst others a Toulouse Lautrec exhibition, "High Kicks & Low Life" starts this Friday at the Walker Art Gallery which includes his iconic print of "La Goulue" at the Moulin Rouge. Next month at the Tate of the North is a "can't miss" major Picasso exhibition, "Peace & Freedom". Both worth a day trip if you are near enough to Liverpool.

KCUK 9 Today & an Irish Oddity

Happy Birthday to all my friends at KCUK and thanks to Cath our list Mom, and the moderators who give so much time to help make it the best group ever. Everyone is so caring and sharing and it is such a talented group.

Here's a couple of cards in celebration. Well I'm Gemini and I do things in twos! Still using my stash of backgrounds.... hope I'm not getting too boring with them. It shows how handy it is to have some ready as it then means that the messy part is all done and dusted and it is thus easier to make a card quite quickly.

Something reminded DH and I yesterday about one of our best holidays, which was in Ireland's West and South coasts, a couple of years ago. I don't think we laughed so much on any holiday before that one as so many odd things happened. DH said, "Remember the elephant?" so I just had to find this photograph as this was a perfect example of an Irish oddity. We were driving back, along the coast near Dingle, after having a meal out, and YES! we had also had a drink or two. As we passed a field I said to DH there's an elephant loose in that field... "OH yes, of course!! he said, "this is Dingle, they are native to here you know!" I made him drive back a way to see it for himself and the elephant WAS just loose lumbering around and there were also camels!!! You can just see Jumbo on the left disappearing behind the bushes, couldn't get a better pic, but note how low the hedge is to the front and it was there looking over when I first spotted it!. It really could have just walked off and there was nobody around to guard them. We presumed that there was a circus somewhere... .but then again it WAS Ireland!

Folds and Flowers

Still using up some of my demoing stash of backgrounds and made this card for KCUKs May sketch challenge. Nice to take part even if it's not a style I usually make and although I had to work to a set layout the challenge to me was to make the card a bit different and to use up some of my stash of decorated card!!

I made this card for Beryl from Wales, a lovely lady I met at the Port Sunny show on Saturday. 

I love this versatile fold which is so useful as a card insert.

The cover using card stencils sponged with Distress Ink

A couple of old ideas of how I've previously used the fold .......

It can be made in small scale to create hanging decorations by sticking a few folds together.

Or large to make unusual album pages

Here is a photo of how to construct them......quite simple !!