Collagraph Printing and Winter Seedlings

I have some collagraph prints lying around on my desk this morning - I've been wanting to try this technique for ages and used my XCut machine to print with after finding a Facebook group all about it.  It's a great way of making prints without investing in a proper press and I am quite pleased with the results.  I kept the plates very simple - I didn't want to invest a lot of time and effort in them if it was going to be a disaster!  I also kept to my current theme of the winter garden.

These first prints turned out quite well and I was able to take several copies from each plate.  I found the only print I had real problems with was the minimalist one (bottom of first photo) - it smudged from the very first print and all subsequent ones - just proving that I'm not cut out for clean and simple!!

 

I decided to try a little more detail and scratched this leaf into the surface of some board.  I only had 3 successful prints with this and then the board deteriorated beyond use, but it's all a learning curve!

These are the used plates, some still strong enough for another print run but a couple have had it. 

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW 

The Garden in Winter

 I'm still in a wintery frame of mind, helped along by the freezing conditions we are expecting later today!  I'm holding back on this sketchbook page for a while as I'm liking the simplicity of it at the moment - I'm good at over-egging the cake so I'm trying to stop myself flinging everything at it!

I made a birthday card for my brother-in-law recently - he loves working with wood and is very creative so I tried doing a wood inlay card using some wood effect papers that I've had in my stash for years, and a medallion die.  I was hoping for a Morroccan look to it, but he referred to it as lace so not quite the response I was hoping for.  Still, I had fun making it!!

I'm linking up with Julia this week over at WOYWW.
 

Winter Snowdrop Collage

 This week I finished a sketchbook page in celebration of these pretty little winter flowers that are blooming my garden at the moment.

I have one small group of Snowdrops and I'm hoping they'll spread - they originally came from a friend who has sadly passed on but I have so enjoyed making this page and thinking happy thoughts of her.

I'm also getting stuck in to another wintery page - I'm being drawn to that soft sage colour lately  - not a go to colour for me usually but I'm enjoying it and will be using it until I've worked it out of my system!  

  

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW this week.

Frosty Seedlings Collage

 I surprised myself by finishing the page I started last week in my sketchbook.  Still working on the winter garden theme and loving it!

    Some detailed shots... 

   ... the photo on the left shows 'Frosted Crystal' Distress embossing powder - I just love it's matte texture - so frosty!

I've also done some little ink doodles with a view to using them in collages.   These are currently on my desk, along with stencil brushes to be put away and the sketch book that should be back on it's shelf!

Some photo collages with the doodles for my velvet moth photography blog - the MakroTex challenge theme this week is 'collage'.   

I'm joining in with Julia over at WOYWW this week, a great place for seeing what other people have on their desks at the moment.

Silver Clay and the New Kiln!

    I was incredibly lucky to be given a small jewellery kiln for Christmas by the Hubs.  What a wonderful man - and he let me use it in the couple of weeks before Christmas so I didn't have to wait for it - he knows me so well!!

This little pendant is a Christmas gift I made for my sister, using silver clay and the new kiln - it's based on a beachcombing theme, using a cuttlefish bone impression for the 'waves' and silver frit for the sand, I topped it off with a piece of pale amethyst 'treasure'.  It's quite small, about 2.5cm across, as my sister does delicate - if it was for me it would be at least twice that size!!

Also pre-Christmas I made little boxes for my nephews for money and gift cards (which they seem to prefer!), and that's the sum total of my Christmas crafting...

... however, shoulder and elbow seem to be improving and I've felt enthused enough to start a page in my sketch book - I don't know where it's going but hopefully it will have changed by next week!  I'm thinking winter garden - a recurring and well loved theme!

 

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW this week. 

 

Merry Christmas!

I'm still neglecting my craft room and my blog due to the ongoing tennis elbow and frozen shoulder problems - it's been very challenging and although there has been some improvement, it can easily be setback again if I try and push my luck!

So no desk this week but I thought a wintery scene was the next best thing!

I would like to wish everyone a happy, healthy and creative festive season and  say thank you for the kind, supportive comments and friendship throughout the  past year.

 

 
I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW 

A Little Winter Garden in a Tin

I'm working my way through some half finished projects and came across this tin with a couple of half made cocoons in it.   I think the idea might have originally been for a midnight garden last summer, but I decided it was perfect to round off the winter and get another 'work in progress' finished!

The backdrop is a piece of old rust printed cloth that is lying on my desk waiting to be used in another project, but I thought they went quite well together!

  I hope you are all staying safe and well in these challenging times.  I have been amazed at the selfless acts of kindness from the folks in my community - it lifts the spirit and renews my faith in mankind when I see such a supportive group of people on our local self-isolation support group pages.  I hope you are all getting the support you need and are coping fairly well with this horrible situation.

Sending virtual hugs to you and linking up via Julia over at WOYWW.   

Winter Weaving

Whilst having a sort out in my studio I came across a piece of weaving I did last winter - the original idea was a frosty garden with hibernating seeds buried deep and starting to come alive.  It's been lying in the 'winter' box untouched, and although it's rather wonky because I used different thicknesses of yarns and ribbons in the weaving I felt it needed to be finished and filed away!   This week I've added pleated silk, bits of old lace, pearl beads and lots of embroidery as surface decoration.   

 I am linking up with Julia over at WOYWW today.

Stay safe, and if anyone gets stir crazy or overwhelmed by the whole process of self isolation and social distancing please do contact me and I'd be very happy to 'chat'!

Winter Garden Collage and WOYWW

This little winter collage is sitting on my work table at the moment, and I've been wondering what else needs to be done to it - something does but I'm not sure what!  It was inspired by my garden which has little houses in it to help the wild life through the winter - a couple of hedgehog houses and several bee and insect houses.  I was keeping the nest image for a more Spring-like collage but decided to use it as we've had lots of birds gathering twigs and nesting materials for the last few weeks, and a couple of Magpies have been fussing around a large half built nest in our Hawthorn tree this week.

I am linking up with Julia over at WOYWW this week.

Pussy Willow In Winter and WOYWW

At long last I've finally found some motivation to open my sketchbook, and I've been working on an old theme of mine: the garden in winter.  Pussy Willow is always a favourite at this time of year so when I came across an old stencil of it that I don't think I've ever used it kick started me to get some ideas down!

I stenciled the pussy willow, then covered the buds with Glossy Accents and sprinkled with micro beads - I was trying to get a frosty feel.   

  

 I'm linking up with WOYWW, so why not pop over if you would like to see what other people have on their desks this week!

Winter Collages

I have finally finished making Christmas cards at last - what didn't help was my Big Shot breaking down a couple of weeks ago - my hubby has mended it several times but this time it's beyond help - so I've been die-cutter free and really missing it.   Of course from that moment on all my ideas required die-cutting, so I've been struggling to be creative!

I've had these little winter garden scenes hanging around from last winter - they just needed some extra embellishments to finish them off, so that's been a relaxing little project in between bouts of chaos and stress (namely present wrapping and supermarket shopping!).

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW.

Thank you for your support and friendship over the past year and
 I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and peaceful 2017.  

November Birthday Card

Oh goodness, I'm struggling with Christmas - I still haven't come up with any ideas and several attempts are in the bin!

However, I managed to whip together a quick birthday card for my cousin-in-law and I've just gone and splashed out on some new stash in the hope it might inspire me - any excuse huh!

I gave it a more frosty November feel by adding Rock Candy Stickles to the flowers.

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW this week.

Winter Pods

I've been slowly working on a collection of little decorative seed pods using silk cocoons. As my collection grew I struggled to find a way of displaying them, and then walking past a bowl filled with pot pourri, I noticed this large seed head - perfect!!

As well as the silk cocoons I used felt, wire, beads, clay pipe stems, cinnamon sticks, eucalyptus bark, wired beads and pleated silk, plus a few touches of glitter for a frosty effect.  

So that's what is sitting on my desk today and I'm linking up with Julia over at What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday to see what other people have on their desks this week.