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.
 

WOYWW 13th Anniversary

Happy 13th Anniversary to all Deskers over at WOYWW - what an achievement, what a fabulous group to be part of and of course a huge thank you and gold star to Julia who makes this possible each week.

Everything has been ATC's here so there's nothing on my desk to show today -  so here's a card I made for the Hubs a few weeks ago!  I've been busy finishing my ATC's and with some help with the die cutting and some left handed stamping (elbow still playing up) I've managed to complete my bundle and they are ready to be sent to their new homes - cutting it a bit fine but I did it!

 

Abstract Art and Birthdays

My youngest nephew turned 17 last week and I needed a card and gift envelope - hopefully a card that wasn't too 'hobby' orientated, I've done guitars, fishing, Dungeons and Dragons and so on, and I felt it was time for something more grown-up!  So after some thought I decided to have a go at some abstract painting - my nephew is very arty so I hoped he'd appreciate it!

The layout of the card came from one I saw on Pinterest quite a time ago - I made a note of it in my sketch book but didn't record who it was by, so I hope if anyone recognises it, please let me know and I can give credit where it's due.  

I added gold leaf as the final touch but I'm afraid it doesn't really show up as gold in the photo.

I had such an  enjoyable time making the paintings that I've had another go in a different colour way - I shall cut this up and make some cards.

 During the week I found a lovely mint green cutting board hidden behind some very old portfolios - I can't remember buying it and have no idea how long it's been there but it blends with my 'new' room perfectly (last weeks post shows my mini makeover!) and hopefully I won't warp this one with the heat gun like I did my old grey one!

I joining in the the desk hop over at Julia's this week - you can find us at WOYWW.

Watercolour Painting and New Stash!

 I finally have access to my desk after a few weeks of major sorting and clutter clearing!  I have nearly finished making a card and gift envelope for my brother-in-laws birthday tomorrow - on the desk is the envelope nearly done after some pre-breakfast additions this morning! Leaving it to the last minute has certainly upped the stress levels!

I also have some lovely new stash on my desk, courtesy of Julia's Forsaken Stash blog.  I just couldn't resist them and as I haven't purchased new stash for such a long time I really enjoyed getting these beauties through the post!

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

Woodland Birthday Card and WOYWW

  I can't begin to tell you the problems I've had since replacing my old computer nearly 3 weeks ago - it's been a journey and a half but I finally have enough bits of the new one working to enable me to post something this week - a birthday card for the Hubs!  Made a couple of weeks ago but I'm only just able to access my photos!

 The increased time spent away from my computer while the Hubs tries to get it sorted has meant I have spent several happy hours winding my ribbons onto strips of card and tidying them all up.  I'm sure all neat freaks out there will understand when I say how satisfying it was doing that job - I have boxes for different colours - this one is neutrals - and I can see at a glance what I have which is so much easier and nicer than rifling through storage jars stuffed to capacity, however attractive they looked on the shelf!

 I linking up with Julia over at WOYWW this week. 

Lino Printing and WOYWW

And before I know it two weeks have passed me by and I don't know where they've gone!  My desk is still pretty much unreachable due to sorting and organising - I've started on my degree portfolios now so an awful lot of huge A1 sized stuff is everywhere and my plan is to halve the volume of it all - I'm in a ruthless mood so it should work!

I managed to rescue some lino cutting tools and inks and brought them down to the calm of the dining table to cut and print a birthday card and gift box for my youngest nephew who has just turned 16 - he's into guitars as you might have guessed!

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

Lino Cutting and a Shed!

 This is my desk just as it was yesterday afternoon, as I frantically printed a lino cut that I had made for my brother-in-law's birthday.  

He has a new shed/workshop, which is his pride and joy and also his sanctuary, complete with wood burning stove - hence the chimney on the shed roof.

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

I'm also sending love, gentle hugs and positive thoughts to dear Shaz Silverwolf.

 

 

Start of the Birthday Card Season!

 It's that time of year again - most of my family and friends have birthdays in October, so here is the first one I made for my nephew who has just turned 18.

He's keen on Dungeons and Dragons so I made a fancy dice to hold the

 rolled up money he was being given.  

As it turned out the dice looked ridiculously big on the card so I chopped the top off it and just used that! 

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

October Birthdays and WOYWW

Not much crafting done lately I'm afraid, but I'll show a couple of birthday cards I've made this month - they were propped up on my desk waiting to be photographed for ages as I discovered a scratch on the lens of my camera and had to wait for a new one to arrive.  I was so disappointed to find that my 'new' camera was too old be mended but I've picked up an identical second hand one so I don't have to learn how to use a different one -  I'm soooooo lazy when it comes to reading instruction manuals!  

 On to the cards - this one has vellum leaves and stamped Tissue wrap which I adhered to a Khadi paper base for my sister's card...

... and this card for my nephew's 17th birthday is based on Dungeons and Dragons - he's a bit of a fan of it at the moment.   I cut and stenciled the D&D logo onto an embossed 'shield' that I edged with copper tape.  I made a small matching box to hold birthday money and gift cards, which is always preferable to anything I might go and buy him!!

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

Gardening Birthday Card and WOYWW

It was the Hub's birthday this week and I made him a gardening themed card as he has decided to throw himself wholeheartedly into growing vegetables this year - life is revolving around seedlings and grow-bags at the moment!

I used real seeds glued in little rows and also a larger seed glued into each texture paste circle, just as if they are in their own little pots.  Glossy Accents was used for the moisture drops on the vellum and also on the circles. 

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

  

Birthday Cards for the Men of the Family

This is a birthday-heavy time of year for my family so here are a couple of cards I had to make recently.  Both needed to incorporate hard cash!

This one was for my nephew who is very keen on fishing - alochol inks were used for the background and I found on YouTube how to fold the money into an origami fish.  I then placed it inside the card with low tack tape so the note wasn't damaged.

 For this next one I had a go at trying to create a rusty finish on a piece of card and then die cut the pocket, tag and stars - money was stuffed into the wallet with the gift tag.  The faux enamel label around it and the little plaque on the tag were both done using a technique by the super-talented Alison Bomber - here's a link to her tutorial on the Paper Artsy blog. 

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

Autumn Hydrangeas

All summer I've had a beautiful white hydrangea in the garden but over the last few weeks it's turned into the most amazing rusty pinks and reds with hints of golden browns in it.  I just had to dig out the hydrangea die that I used here recently and replicate that gorgeous colour scheme.  I was also inspired by the rich orange browns of the bracken that is all over the New Forest at the moment - I think it's more beautiful while it's dying back than when it's in full greenery.
  

This was an 'extra' I made with the flower I wasn't happy with - it seemed a shame to waste it -I'll probably add a stamped sentiment when I come to use the card as the bottom half looks rather bare!

Still no Christmas cards and not really feeling that bothered - I can't seem to summon up the enthusiasm for them so might not fit them in this year - although I may get a burst of inspiration next week, who knows!  I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW this week

Orchid Birthday Card and WOYWW

I love orchids but real ones aren't for me - I can kill pretty much any house plant you care to name, but we have a cousin who has a beautiful collection of real ones and they seem to be always in bloom whenever we visit, so for her birthday card I dug out a never-used orchid die - I've had it for a while and I knew I'd need it one day!  
I kept the design simple with just a silver embossed border stamp so there was nothing to really compete with the ornate flowers.

So as you can see absolutely no Christmas cards made yet and not even a feeling of panic rising up in me either - I'm sure it will kick in soon!

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

Textile Birthday Card and WOYWW

October is a busy month for birthday celebrations and this week it's my sister's birthday, so here is the card and gift bag I made for her.

I picked up some lovely tweed fabric squares from a charity shop a few weeks ago and decided they would go very well with the beautiful rusty orange coloured silk velvet.

I embossed the velvet with a leaf stamp, covered a couple of buttons with the same velvet, die cut some copper sheet and added some hand embroidery and beading.

I made the origami envelope but needed paper nearly A1 in width to get it to the correct size (6"x6") - it's open so the card just slips in, which is fine when it's not going through the post!

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

A Birthday Card for my Nephew and WOYWW

With my nephew turning 16 and not surprisingly preferring money to anything I might choose for him, I decided to make him a card that presented the cash in a more innovative way than just popping it in an envelope!  

This card is soooo not me!  Apart from the fact it's not my usual style, the whole rigmarole of paint techniques is not my strong point either.   

I covered a piece of card with foil tape, embossed it and covered it with black antiquing cream - in my ignorance little did I know it would all come off in flakes with absolute minimal contact!  I 'glued' the remaining black bits onto the silver with varnish, while keeping my fingers crossed it would all stay on!  So far, so good!

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW, and if anyone out there can advise on what I should have done to stop the black paint flaking yet control how much I rub off then I'd love to hear it!