Flower Casting

After a couple of not so good weeks I'm on the up 
and have been doing a little more flower casting to try and lift the spirits 

and improve my techniques!  

You can see my first attempts here.

 Brambles, Angelica, Chives and Heuchera.

   

Freesias and Heuchera  

A little Welsh Poppy.

  

A coat of grey paint, but I think I preferred it white!

The dining room table has been my desk during lock down, and here are some more castings waiting to be sanded, sealed and in some cases have a little colour added if they need a little more definition.  

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

Plaster Cast Flowers and WOYWW

In between all the usual lock down stuff like gardening, housework and competitive backgammon with the hubs I have discovered a new obsession - casting plants in plaster!

Sitting here on my desk are my first attempts - it's been a steep learning curve but hopefully I've learned from most of the numerous mistakes I made!

  I'll start with my favourite (and most successful so far!) The brambles are from my front garden and I think they look quite beautiful here although in the garden they promote swearing and frustration on a regular basis.

Chives on the left - dropped on the floor and smashed.
Baby ferns on the right - had to be chiselled out of the mould as I forgot to use mould release!

Pyracanthus buds

A rose with Lavender and dried grasses - I enthusiastically sanded off some of the stalks!

It's quite a long process, letting the plaster set then letting it dry out for days on end, but I did remember to take a desk shot earlier in the proceedings!

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

Orange and Duck Egg Tag Cards and WOYWW

    Using my favourite tag stamp again and some left over bits and pieces.   

I found the rolled paper beads on Etsy and fell in love with them - I always knew I'd find the perfect use for them one day!

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW - why not pop over and see what other people have on their desks this week. 

Playing with Texture Paste

I've had a busy couple of weeks where I just haven't had the chance to do much arty crafty stuff, but I needed a couple of cards for this month, so that made me sit down and do something!
While having a clear out recently I discovered a few pots of texture paste that I have never used so I thought this would be a good opportunity to try them out - luckily they hadn't dried out. 

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

Three Little Collages

I was intrigued to find a piece of old crackle glazed sea pottery with what looked like a raised flower stem on it - I knew I had use it, and these three little card toppers, made on blank ATC's are what resulted.  

I lined up the little ridge in the pottery with the stem of the die cut flower, and I used the orangey/blue colour of the old crackle glaze to influence the background inks and the crackle stamping on the the die cut stems.

I'm linking up with Julia this week, over at What's On Your Work Desk Wednesday.

Crochet Flowers and WOYWW

 I have several crochet projects on the go at the moment as I'm trying to use up some of my yarn mountain - I simply can't squish another ball into any of my yarn bags!
One of the projects is an autumn coloured scarf made up of these little flowers all of which I'm going to stitch together at the petal tips.  I'm completely out of kilter with the seasons here but it might actually be autumn by the time I finish it! 

I'm linking up with Julia over at What's On Your Desk Wednesday this week.

Spring Luminary

Spring is here, evenings are lighter, weather is sunnier (sometimes), and to celebrate I decided to make up this Tim Holtz Luminary die that I have had for ages but never got round to using.  I found out it calls for great accuracy when putting it together, which explains the slight twist in it's body that makes it look a little wonky from some angles - oh well, I 'll know next time!   I stamped white grasses and flowers onto frosted film for the windows, although it's difficult to see in the photos, and I put a night light inside it.

I am linking up with Julia over at WOYWW this week, why not pop along and see what other people have on their desk this week. 

Paper Roses

I don't think I'll ever tire of making paper flowers - they are so relaxing and satisfying to do!  Here are a couple of tags I've made - both flowers are made in the same way using the Tattered Florals die.  I just creased and curled them in different ways.  I love Peonies and old fashioned cabbage roses, anything where the petals turn inwards and make a 'bowl',  which is the look I was trying to get with the peachy flower.

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW, where you can see what other people have been up to on their work desks this Wednesday!

Summer's Night Garden

'I often think the night is more alive and more richly coloured than the day'

                                                                                     Vincent Van Gogh

In the summer I love my garden more at night than in the day - it's at it's most beautiful in the late evening, just as the sun has gone down.  The scents are stronger and the garden is more alive with insects and moths.  The shapes and outlines of the plants are more highly defined and the although the bright colours are muted the blues and whites are quite spectacular. 

Here's a garden tag to celebrate the summer we are eventually going to have!

I am linking up with Jan (who is temporarily Julia) over at WOYWW this week.

May's Forgotten Stash

Each month I'm rooting out forgotten and never used stash with a view to using it or moving it along.  For May I found a set of little frames by BLine Designs.  They came on a cube and there were four of them originally, but after peeling them off many moons ago I seem to have lost one!  

It was hard finding a project for them but I decided they would be little windows onto a Spring garden.

I am joining in with What's On Your Work Desk Wednesday this week and before I do anything else I would like to send Julia a huge Get Well hug - I am so glad her surgery went well and I am sending positive, healing thoughts and lots of love her way.
Last week was the ATC swap and these are the ones I sent out (I made 7 but somehow only photographed 6)....

And these are the ones I've received so far...

The wonderful bee, so happy and sunny, from BJ (BJCraftcorner) and the beautiful heart from Shaz (Silverwolf) - I am loving that heart stamp!  Thank you so much ladies, it was a joy receiving them through the post.