Autumn Gift Tags

After a horrible couple of weeks that has had bad news coming in from all directions, I finally felt able to settle down in the studio to catch my breath and 'escape'.  We have a lot of birthdays in October so I got on with making gift tags and birthday cards - it was very relaxing and I enjoyed 'playing' with dies, stamps and glazes that I hadn't used for a long time - it almost felt like having new stash!

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW and then I'm off to print some co-ordinating wrapping paper and gift bags - a perfect activity for a rainy day!

Halloween Tags

This week I was delighted to do a demonstration for Paper Artsy - I made a Halloween necklace and bracelets using the Tim Holtz Poinsettia die - you can see it here!  I do love this die and since then I've been playing around with it and making Halloween tags for gift bags for the adults - it doesn't seem fair that the children get all the treats!

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

Halloween Jewellry and Paper Artsy

I was delighted to be asked back to do another demo for Paper Artsy -

the theme being wearable art.

  I just love the Tim Holtz Poinsettia die and I've been thinking for a while that it's much too nice to keep just for Christmas, so I decided to give it a Halloween twist and make a necklace and cuff.   

I stamped the petals in gold using some Paper Artsy stamps, edged them with Glossy Accents and black glitter, and then assembled the flowers.  I then used a hot glue gun and added leafy ribbon or beaded wires between the petal layers.  Before fully cool, the hot glue allowed the petals and wires to be arranged at the right angle to give a good 3D effect.

If you would like to see more details about how they were made please pop over to the Paper Artsy blog here.

Tangled Yarn and WOYWW # 330

This week I found the most beautiful yarn, in rich autumn colours, just waiting to be used for collage, weaving, embroidery, or whatever!  

I decided I'd spend a few minutes winding it from a skein into a ball, so it's ready to use.  Wow, what a mistake - 3 days of unravelling later and it looks like this!  How anyone knits with this is beyond me - it's a mass of knots and so far I have six tiny balls of yarn and I'm about half way through it.  Very soon I can see the rest falling 'accidentally' into the bin!

I'm linking up with Julia over at What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.

Midnight Garden Collage

Another little collage in my Midnight Garden series.   Embroidery on Cyanotype printing and a beautiful Japanese stamp that I have finally found a home for!

If you want to see what's on other people's desks this week they why not pop over to WOYWW.

Night Garden Sketchbook Pages

Not much on my desk this week, some printing onto the silk I eco dyed a few weeks ago, and some more pages from my sketchbook.

Thermofax printing - supposed to be the night garden in the moonlight but looks more like frost and snow!  Will have to re-think that one!

 The lighting somehow turned the black butterfly and lace into shades of brown - but I rather like it anyway!

I'm linking up with What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.

Night Garden Sketchbook Pages

Some pages from my Midnight Garden sketchbook.
My favourites in the garden at the moment are Poppy seed heads, Bracken (a vigorous invader from next door!), Fennel and Agapanthus.

Pen and ink drawings - silver moonlight and soft shadows

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

WOYWW #326

  I met up with Lunch Lady Jan and Julia for a coffee last week and it was lovely.  We laughed and chatted our way through the morning and Jan gave me this beautiful bag - I'm so thrilled with it and adore Jan's beautiful taste in fabrics and exquisite workmanship.  A HUGE thank you Jan!

Why, oh why didn't I crochet this, knitting takes so long - perhaps it's because I love my knitting needles so much! 

 I'm linking up with What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday this week, and that's what's on mine - about 6" of knitting that's taken me two months to do so far - I have a horrible feeling this will still be in the knitting bag in years to come!