Buried Treasure - originally posted August 2007

Seth over at the Altered Page has had, as is his wont, a genius idea:

Let's get everyone to re-post one of their favourite blog entries, so that we can flit from blog to blog and wallow in all the amazingly creative wondrousness that we might just have missed the first time around.

So here's my contribution.....

This altered book spread was first posted on my blog in August 2007, and it's not even on here any more (well, until today :)), as I pruned my blog a while ago and removed everything prior to 2008.

So I'm glad of this opportunity to re-showcase this Day of the Dead piece, as I had so much fun making it :)

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I have always liked the look of altered books, but have never quite gotten around to trying one.

So I was chuffed to bits when the latest CJ turned up in the Take One Stamp circle, and it was exactly that - a fab old hardback book, with a really nice, versatile shrine stamp from Lost Coast. So nice in fact that I already own it myself.

This CJ belongs to my pal Julie, and I know she used to be a bit of a goth girlie, so I thought I could crack out my skeletons and skulls and have some real fun with a Day of the Dead spread. And that's exactly what I did. And fun, indeed, it was.

I started off with the Misfits stamp I made ages ago on the Imagepac, for my son - as I thought he'd look pretty cool inside the shrine. I stamped him in Starlite Black and then "coloured in" all the white bits with liquid pearls.

I cut a niche for him in a block of pages, and also cut an arch shaped niche above, to showcase the lovely design at the start of the next chapter. Why did they stop putting these in books? They looked great.

The bit I cut out of the top niche seemed too nice to waste, so I glued that at the bottom of the page, upside down.



Next I gave the whole thing a coat of gesso - with my fingers - I like getting messy :) and a swiping over with yellow and orange distress inks.

I wanted to mask the lettering for the title, but none of my Heidi Swapp mask alphas were "spooky" looking enough, so I cut some letters with my Cricut and ran them through a repo cartridge on the Xyron to make masks. The first letters I cut were way too small and in the wrong font, because I am spatially challenged and incapable of operating simple machinery - but they didn't go to waste because I used them on my sign in tag :)

I stuck the masked letters down, covered up my skull with a bit of tin foil to make sure he didn't get splashed, and then washed over the whole spread with watered down paint in crimson and violet.

Once the paint was dry I lifted the masks - with difficulty - that repositionable Xyron isn't as repositionable as you'd think :) - and the lettering looked like this <------------

I especially like the way the purple paint pooled around the letters in "Dia" to make a defined outline. A happy accident :)

I added various stamped images - some direct to the pages such as the ravens, the crosses beneath the shrine, and the "de los" - and some Third Coast dancing skeletons on yellow tissue paper adhered with mod podge, and bones stamped on ivory card. Then embellished with a stamped fabric trim and a jewel above the shrine and rays of dimensional paint below.

The shrine itself I stamped in royal purple Stazon onto glossy card that I had alcohol inked in yellow, orange and gold (Pinata inks and Ranger mixative), and I cut off the cupids at the top as they didn't really suit my theme.

I really wanted some authentic Mexican milagros to finish the piece off, but I couldn't find any to buy in this country (ebay let me down, horror of horrors), and didn't have time to wait for them to get here from the US. So I made my own freehand with embossing tin. I made two burning hearts and an eye, and I'm really pleased with how they turned out. Must admit I had to make about 9 to get three usable ones, but I got there in the end :) I aged them a bit with a light swipe of brown acrylic paint, and adhered them with foam pads behind the raised parts which will hopefully stop them getting too squashed.

All in all a REALLY enjoyable project. It has certainly whetted my appetite for altered books, I can't wait to work in another, or even start my own.

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You'll be glad to hear, I have since started my own :)

Shroooooms

My 10th entry in the fabric round robin...only 2 more to go - sob - have really enjoyed it

This particular person's CJ (not really a "J" as it's not really a book) has evolved a nature theme on its travels, so I wanted to stay on topic...and mushrooms were the first subject that came to mind.

I used some fabric from a pair of kiddies trousers I got in the Matalan clearance store, and the same reverse applique technique that I used before on the jellyfish entry.

PS sorry for neglecting the blog...I only really post here when I've made something, and life has been way too busy lately for making stuff, I'm afraid.

I made a proper quilt!!! whoooot!!!

ok, maybe at 6 inches square it's not really much use, unless you're a dormouse and sleep in a very tiny bed, but it's a proper quilt all the same.

The top is foundation pieced to a traditional Amish pattern (although the batik fabrics aren't very Amish at all), and it has been quilted in (or at least close to!) the ditch.

The binding's a little unorthodox though, it's hockey tape lol. Does the job!

This is, like most things I've blogged recently, for the fabric round robin.

I was going to leave it as just the mini quilt, as I liked it as it stood, but decided to add a little embellishment. Hence the copper star bead and bugle beaded "rays".



This one's for Mandy over in Northern Ireland, hope she likes it!

Dedicated to ladies with complicated love lives everywhere...

This is my latest entry for the fabric round robin I'm a part of. Am enjoying this project so much, I'll be sad when it's over. 8 down, 4 to go.

I wanted to use needle felting on this one, so needed a fairly bold/simple focal motif. I settled on a heart and a triangle. No reason! :)

I didn't have a big enough piece of wool felt to use as the background, so sliced up two smaller pieces and sewed them back together in a stripey pattern.

Next the heart was felted on using merino roving, a border was cross stitched around it, and then I embroidered the three points of the triangle.

The background looked a little empty at this point, so I added some purple seed stitches to liven it up a bit.

A bit of red bias binding to finish, and it was all done.

A close up of all the textures, this one is very strokable:



Roll on the next one!

Time for my annual scrapbook page

I've averaged 1 layout a year since 2006, so I'm hardly the world's most prolific scrapbooker :D

But I do enjoy it when I give it a go.

Check back here Summer 2010 for my next one :)

This is for fellow Wildcats fans Michelle and Tracy, who know how to rock the Sherlock Holmes look...

The hat and magnifying glass are paper pieced, and the top bit of the magnifying glass lifts up to reveal more journalling.

The fingerprints are mine, and I made the mistake of using permanent black ink, so I turned up at the local crown court this morning for my first day of jury service looking like I had just had my dabs taken down the local nick! I didn't really think that one through...

Had fun with this. Thanks to Michelle for giving me the push to play with paper again.

Watch the skies!

This is another terminally late entry from me for the fabric round robin I'm currently enjoying very much, if slightly behind the published schedule.

For this one we were given the finished backgrounds - a floral fabric. I don't really do flowers, so I wasn't sure where to go with my entry, until I decided that the foliage on my piece looked a little exotic....maybe even alien....

And thus Wilbur the extra-terrestrial was born.

Wilbur was embroidered on the way to an ice hockey game in Peterborough, much to the bemusement of my friend who was driving the car.

He didn't bring us much luck, unfortunately, we lost. Boo.

I hope Annie, his new owner/abductee, likes him anyway.

Buy gorgeous stamps = help my long lost cousin

Admit it, you want these stamps!

Even if you don't, please please buy them, details here:

http://michelleward.typepad.com/michelleward/2009/03/hot-topic-new-rubber-special-benefit.html

because $10 from each sale is going directly to my very good friend and cuz (in spirit) Paula in Illinois, who recently lost her house and all its contents to fire :(

Dream assignment for gamer geek Kes :)

Ouch!!!

Kesler dropped to the ice to block Jere Lehtinen's second-period shot, missed the puck but not the Star's skate, which clipped the back of his head as Lehtinen jumped over Kesler.

He appeared dazed, but was able to skate off the ice.

"I got lucky," Kesler said. "It could have been way worse. Obviously, I was pretty worried walking into the locker room but they were able to fix it up so I could go back out. "

With the shallow, four-inch laceration closed, Kesler returned to the game and in the third period cut hard around defenceman Darryl Sydor and fired under Turco to make it 4-1 at 2:26.

That's my boy, head cut open by a skate blade, what does he do? Come straight back out and score :)

I am almost getting bored with saying "I told you so" now, but I TOLD YOU SO! Kesler for the C.

Dank Sedin bled all over the ice from a high stick to the chops and scored shortly afterwards too, maybe next time we hit a slump AV should randomly punch a couple of the guys to wake them up? Seems to work!

Final result Van 5 Dal 2 - whoot!

That makes up for Saturday :)

my Canucks are 14-3-1 since the start of February

get innnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's go jellyfishing!

(I think I've been watching too much Spongebob)

I made this last night while waiting for the Canucks game to start, it's 2 weeks overdue, eeek! Sorry Irboo!

This is for the fabric round robin I am currently involved in (and am enjoying very much). We were each given a square of dark blue fabric to work with, with a request to leave the edges unfinished as the recipient isn't yet sure whether she is going to quilt them into a wallhanging or bind them into a book.

Other than that, anything goes.

I had been wanting to try reverse applique for a while, and I have some lovely "under the sea" style batik fabric, which kind of went with the blue backing fabric, so that's what I went with.

It was a toss up between fish swimming through coral, or a jellyfish and bubbles, but I swiftly discovered I can't draw fish to save my life....so a jellyfish it was to be :D

Close up so you can see where the upper layers of fabric have been cut through to reveal the other patterns underneath (NB both this and the main pic above would really benefit from being clicked on - the Blogger-shrunk pics mess the colours and the details up):



I wanted to wash this to encourage the edges to fray more, but was paranoid in case after all that work, it shrank or ran or something....but hopefully they will scuff up a bit with handling.

Meet the diseased squid

Another one of those things that worked better in my head...

This particular infected marine mollusc is SUPPOSED to be a tree :)

Even placing it on a nice grassy hill and embroidering it a few leaves doesn't detract from its undeniable cephalopod-ness.

Ah well, it was worth a try :D

This is my entry for last month's Art Raffle, which I need to send out this week. It's late. Sorry all. Life got in the way big time.


The background is acrylics, Squidney Crosby there was made from airdry clay and painted with brown and bronze acrylics before being varnished, and the leaves are embroidered straight onto the canvas with variegated floss.

I hope the raffle winner doesn't have an irrational fear of poorly sealife.


In other news. Awwwwwww. Darcy. Awwwwww. Now give that baby back to its mother and come heeeeeeere! :D

You know, I think Mr Kesler is getting a leeeetle jealous at all the attention I'm giving his cutie enforcer pal, because this is what he had to say about the Hordibaby photo:

“Embarrassing,” said Ryan Kesler, who sits next to Hordichuk in the Canuck dressing room. “There should be a fine. For him to actually pose for a picture with his shirt off... You’ve seen his body, He doesn’t have the greatest body. It’s like the ‘before’ picture in the Jenny Craig commercials.”

Now now boys, there's enough of me to go round, you don't have to bicker :D :D :D

Happy Birthday John

No waaaaayyyy!!!!!

Markus!!!

I'm shocked!!

(seriously though, wtg Nas!!! lol)

Oh. Dear. Lord.

Helllooooooooooo Mr Hordichuk!!

I know, I know, I know - those 6 words hardly constitiute serious hockey analysis, and I do try so hard to keep the inner bunny under control.

But sheeesh, I have a pulse!! (and it appears to be going a little faster than usual!)

This is what happens....

....when you give a digital SLR to a 6 year old and say "take a nice pic of mummy's new haircut"

:D

From Alison, to the Charmed ladies (and gent)....

A few months back, a group of you came together to make a gorgeous gift for Alison, who is *still* in hospital - one year today :(

Allie doesn't have all your addresses, so has asked me to pass on this, her thank you note, via my blog

Thanks, everybody, from me too

Happy V-Day everyone

I hope everyone's having a good lurrrrrrve day :)

I've woken in a strop because the curse of Friday 13th cost my Canucks a win in Dallas, but hopefully it will get better as the day goes on, eh?

Here's my card for Ian.....I went for something a little non trad because I'm not really the slushy lovey dovey type, so wanted something a bit different from the usual hearts and flowers. Bah humbug :)

Alison came up with the line "my Valentine makes me smile" (ta bessie! good one) and this is what I came up with



Andy Warhol eat your heart out :D

Am actually quite pleased with this one as it is the first three part stencil I've ever cut, and I really like the look - especially the way everything doesn't quite line up properly so it leaves the odd white bit reminiscent of 1960s litho prints.

I will definitely be cutting more 3-parters.

Here's the original image from google that I based the stencil on:

OWOH - we have a winner!

It's drawing day for One World One Heart 2009, and the winner of my shrine or necklace (winner's choice) was comment # 97 of 228 - SpiritMama!

SpiritMama said...
Your shrines are so wonderful, I would love to win one!
Thanks for entering me in your giveaway!

Waxela (wa-shay-la)
SpiritMama
http://www.spiritmama-art.blogspot.com/

Good luck to the Dancing Queens!

It's my turn again to host the newbie CJ over at UKScrappers, I always enjoy this opportunity to get ten innocent victims hooked on circle journals :)

I am a CJ pusher *insert evil cackle*

This time around the girls have voted to call themselves the Dancing Queens (they were on a bit of an Abba kick at the time...), and so I thought this silhouette of laydeees having a boogie 70s style would be just right for their "good luck, enjoy your first CJ" cards.

Nice easy cards, as I had to make 10 (not sure why I only photographed 9, I deffo made 10), and didn't have much time.... a bit of spin n splash (never get tired of that toy!), some gold card for matting, a couple of gems, a bit of ink stippled around the edge, 'good luck' stamped inside, bish bash bosh, job's a goodun :)

Have fun with the CJ queenies!

nice lady just came round and cut my hair....

I can see again! yay! (my fringe was down to my chin before lol)

I like it, maybe I ought to start getting it cut more than once a year :)

Forgot to take a decent photo ...

... this was just snapped with my phone

A needle felted tree (and somewhat wonky sun) for Alison's birthday card

I hope she likes it

Fashions change, but ink is forever

This is, I think, my penultimate Tattoo CJ entry. Pity because I've really enjoyed this circle.

This is for Rhian's CJ which had an open theme - ie anything at all to do with tattoos goes.

I thought I'd do something about how each decade has its own signature style, I should know, like everyone else who had a tattoo in the mid 80s I have a Celtic armband :D

The big craze in the noughties is apparently stars, which are far and away the most popular tattoo at the moment, especially for girls. Kat Von D has a lot to answer for :)


The background paper I made for this entry is one of those impossible-to-photograph jobbies, as it's heavy on the glimmer mist and has lots of fairly subtle stamping that doesn't really show up on the pics, but you get the general gist.

It's orange and red distress inks on heavy watercolour paper, with gold, copper, and red glimmer mists on top, and over stamping using red, orange and pink distress inks and rust Stazon.



This CJ is also my first ever attempt at sewing on paper, I haven't done the neatest job but I'm glad I gave it a go.

The title was stamped and embossed with pearlescent garnet EP from Stampendous.

And the dymo-stylee labels were made with my Around The Block label maker using some of their "designer" tape

and that's about it

Wrong bench Kes!

oops!

from last night's game vs Nashville

a post NHL career as a human cannonball beckons

seriously, I haven't seen the game yet, I hope he's ok! looks like his landing was softened by a number of Preds though so I expect he's fine.

What's your dream tattoo...?

...if money, time, pain, work etc etc were no object....

that was the question asked by Anna, the owner of the latest journal I've come to tackle in the Tattoo CJ.

I wasn't sure what to do at first as I already have my dream tattoo, my beautiful orcas. But then I thought of all the cool places I'd like to have tattoos if it wasn't for my job.... and this is what I came up with.



Anna's album is one of those see through acrylic jobbies. Which was SO much fun to work on! I enjoyed the challenge of knowing that the work on each side would show through to the other side etc etc.

It was a bugger to photograph though, hence me taking it out into the garden and holding it up to the sky, please excuse my two week old nail varnish that really needs to come off!

Nothing fancy on here technically speaking. Hand was just cut out from patterned paper that I had laid my own hand on and drawn around. Letters are Heidi Swapp I think from an old Costco kit, sprayed with irridescent gold glimmer mist and coated with stickles. Neither of which really show up on the photo, the red stickles on the tiny heart don't either, but they are there, honest.

The swallow and the "take a walk..." are rub ons.

The file folder on the back opens to reveal the journalling:



Ummm, what else? The flourishes around the outside are Autumn Leaves stamps stamped with royal purple Stazon.

and all the rest of the stamping on the back page is snow cap Ranger pigment ink

This was much fun, thanks for the challenge Anna!

One World One Heart 2009

***edited to add - comments are now CLOSED***

Oops! I'm a little late getting my One World One Heart giveaway up on my blog - time ran away with me a little, as it has a habit of doing.

Hopefully there's still plenty of time for people to find me and sign up, as the big draw for all the winners won't take place until Thursday February 12th.

You may be familiar with OWOH already from other blogs, or the article in Artful Blogging, but if not, check out the site >>here<< to read all about the big giveaway, how it started, what it all means, how much fun it is to blog hop and meet new friends from all over the blogosphere, and most importantly, the list of all the bloggers taking part, and the amazing "prizes" you might win!

I am offering a custom gift to the winner on my blog, a choice of either a personalised mini shrine, or a necklace:

If you win, and would like the shrine, I will make it around any theme you choose, here are a couple of examples:

The one on the left was on a bird theme, the one on the right is my own little offering to the gods of hockey, hoping that they will take mercy on my team(s) and grant them the odd win (it isn't working!!!!). You could choose any theme you like - maybe hearts, inspired by One World One Heart, or perhaps I could incorporate photos of your children or pets.....or, well, anything :) I like a challenge :D


If you would prefer the necklace, this will consist of a stamped / collaged / etc pendant in a Ranger memory frame, again to your own theme, strung on a necklace with beads etc appropriate for the colour scheme. Please specify square or rectangular frame, and how long you would like the chain. Here's a bad photo of a simple one I made for a Halloween swap, just to give you an idea:


Whichever one you go for, there will also be some extra goodies in with your prize, you won't be disappointed ;)


Entering for this giveaway is simple:

1. Please leave a comment on this post. Just one comment please.

2. You don't have to have your own blog to enter, but please make sure there is a way for me to contact you if you win.

3. This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere, worldwide

4. You have until Wednesday February 11th, 2009 to leave your comment. I will draw the winner at random on Thursday February 12th, as will all the other OWOH participants.

5. Don't forget to visit the OWOH site for the full list of all participating bloggers - 400+ and counting!!

6. I wish you the Best of British luck!!!!

Old Skool!

I think I've actually finished this month's fabric CJ entry - for RainbowJoy - ahead of the due date - whoot!!!

I am still on my embroidery kick, can you tell? :D I really need to do something a little different next month, maybe felting....

Anyway - back to this month. The other CJ I am currently in is tattoo themed, and clearly the tattoo vibe has cross pollenated over to the fabric CJ this month.

I have always loved the old school "Sailor Jerry" style of bold, iconic tattoo designs, not that I have any like that me'self. But I love them on other people - swallows, nautical stars, pin up girls and of course the classic sacred heart.

So - I sketched a sacred heart with scroll onto linen, and embroidered over the top with black thread for the outline, and various different variegated threads for the colour.

The "MUM" is black satin cord couched onto the top of the scroll with black cotton.

The "old school" is hand drawn onto cream hockey tape

And I got the lovely fabric from good old ebay

I made a bit of a mess of the binding, which is a pain, (it's not as wonky at the top right corner as the photo makes it look, though) - but I'm still a novice at this quilting thang. I'll get the hang of it eventually.

It had to happen eventually

In fact, I'm amazed it didn't happen sooner

To be honest, for a fight that's been brewing for 6 years, it was a bit of a disappointment in the end, kind of a damp squib

But hopefully it was enough to close off that unfinished business...

John's new solo album is out tomorrow

Can't wait.

I haven't read any reviews or fan opinions, and have only heard the one track that was on his MySpace. I've ordered a copy but I don't know when it will arrive, as it's coming across from the States. I'll hear it when I hear it (but I hope it's soon!)

The photo made me double take. I've missed this man, and breathing underwater.

Friday Five catch up

The hlog girls went with a Sunday Seven this week instead of a Friday Five, so here it is, along with last week's Five that I seem to have missed:

1. Do you have a day off from work or school for MLK day?

I’m guessing this is Martin Luther King day? That one’s not recognised over here…

2. Are you sick of the unusually hot or cold weather?

Who has unusually hot weather? And can I move there?! Freeeeezing here today, we are all sat in the office with our coats still on, shivering

3. Do you care about the football playoffs?

Nope, I’m not hugely interested in any kind of football, either the English or the American kind. I do very occasionally watch a bit of CFL, especially when the BC Lions are on, but to be honest I don’t really know what’s going on half the time (Kat needs to give me some pointers :) )

4. What new TV show do you like this season?

Ummm, I can’t think of anything, the IT Crowd was good but the series was short and is already over. Ditto Ace of Cakes, which seems to have been bumped a couple of shows in (sob). Heroes series 4 is due to start soon I think, so I’m looking forward to that. I’m not really watching anything else….except ‘ockey.

5. What's the next DVD on your Netflix queue or on your list to rent?

I don’t really rent movies, I don’t have time to watch them. I did make an exception last week to watch the Love Guru – which I instantly regretted as it sucked HARD. But generally, the only films I get to see are kiddy ones with my 6 year old, so the last one was Alvin and the Chipmunks :)

6. What book or magazine are you currently reading?

I usually have a couple of books and mags on the go at any given time – I’m currently making my way through this month’s Somerset Studios and Cloth Paper Scissors, and I’m also part way through reading two books – Bad Science by Ben Goldacre and Open Ice by Jack Falla

7. Is anyone else sad that we have to wait 11 months for Xmas?

No! I need that long to recover from the last one!


1. Do you make New Year's Resolutions?
Not really, sometimes half heartedly, this year not at all. I do have goals, but they aren’t new year specific.

2. How much TV do you watch?

Not that much – although it’s almost always on (kids watching Spongebob etc)

3. What kind of pet would you like to own?

A dog, definitely, but it would have to wait until I’m retired or something daft, as I don’t think it’s fair to have a dog alone in the house while everyone’s out at work and school. As far as lower maintenance pets go, we already have a pair of lovely friendly rats and the cutest pygmy hedgehog on the planet.

4. Do you recycle?

Yes. I’d want to anyway, but the tiny waste bins the council give us mean that I haven’t got much choice.

5. Have you just wandered around the town that you live in?

Just aimlessly? Not really. I don’t tend to do much without a purpose. And it isn’t the most exciting or pretty town, to be fair.

it's not quite Big In Japan...

.... more like 5 minutes of fame in Taiwan.... but hey, I'll take it :D

My mate Anam over in Oil Country was approached at the tail end of last year by a tattoo magazine from Taiwan called 'Tattoo Extreme', as they wanted to run a piece on her tattoo-related scrapbooking.

They were clearly impressed by what she sent them as the result was a 7 page article (should have been 8 pages but one got missed off in a printing error, apparently)

You can see the full article here

And at the top of page 7 (see above), if you look very carefully, you'll find me :)

Three of the bits on that page are mine, and there are also contributions from my Tattoo CJ pals Lori and Willow, and the lovely Rhomany too.

Great fun - thanks for including me in your project, Anam x

I'm slowly playing catch up....

I have been getting worryingly behind with my collaborative commitments recently, partly because life in general has been busy, and partly because the fabric work I have been doing is so much more time consuming than paper stuff.

So I am pleased to have got another entry for the Tattoo CJ done and dusted

This is Vicky's book and her theme is "My First Tattoo"

Well, my first tattoo is verrry old :)

I had it done when I was just 16 (sorry Dad!!!!), and it is a Hawkwind logo.

For those of you too young to remember the space rock geniuses (geneii??) that were Hawkwind, here's what the logo is supposed to look like:


And here is the oh-so-cute Dave Brock, who was singer/guitarist in the band in their best era:



I got a Christmas card from him one year, I nearly fainted with joy!
I've still got it somewhere.....must try to find it......

Ahhh, Hawkwind, Here and Now, the Stonehenge free festival, those were the days!

Anyway, back to the CJ

The background was made with glimmer mists (which makes it so difficult to photograph!) and a mask I cut of the band logo from acetate.

There is also a fair bit of stamping of suitably "space rocky" swirls and things using pigment inks in toning colours.

I highlighted my tattoo on the photo with a little pronged frame thing (I can't remember the proper word for these - a conch? something like that), stamped and embossed the title, handwrote the journalling, and edged the lot with acrylic paint.

That was about it

Close up of the journalling:



(the bit at the end isn't very clear in the photo, it says "I thought it was so damn COOL at the time, but to be fair, it hasn't aged all that well :)")

Close up of the left hand page - I was trying to capture the shimmeryness.... glimmer mists are so fab but you just can't capture it in a photo....



Now on to the next Fabric CJ entry - see you in three weeks!

I either need to learn to sew quicker....

... or go back to paper, nice, easy paper....I can finish a paper CJ entry in 1-2 days, these fabric ones take 2-3 WEEKS!

But that does mean a lovely feeling of satisfaction once it is finally done

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh :)

just like that :)

It didn't help that I decided to do this one entirely by hand not machine, but I figured I needed the practice if I am ever going to speed up....




This is an 8x8" quiltie for Wisher's book.

It started with the harlequin pattern which I embroidered in very sparkly gold thread on black cotton fabric with a music print, and then I built the rest around it in a similarly regal stylee.

Very unusual colours for me but I like how it (eventually!) came together



My by-hand zigzag stitch is painful to look at, it looks like I was drunk when I did it lol

In my defence though, it is really difficult to get a little tiny needle to come up through loads of layers of fabric, batting, and heat-and-bond, and actually emerge where you wanted it to!

Friday Five - 2nd January 2009

ooops! I'm a little late!

1.) Did you watch the Outdoor Game?

Oh yes :) Wouldn't miss the Winter Classic for one meeellion dollarssss. It wasn't QUITE as magical as last year's because there was no snow, or Dany Sabs looking adorable, but it was a cracking good game. And I'm still giggling about the anthems :D

2.) Do you have any New Year's traditions?

Not really, unless staying in sulking because I can't get a babysitter counts as a tradition.

3.) What sport have you always wanted to try but never gotten around to?

I'm much more of a watcher of sport than a participant, although I love swimming. I would LOVE to learn to skate, have only tried it once and I was awful, couldn't even let go of the sides.

4.) Which sports website do you visit the most?

THF by a country mile, but I also pay daily visits to the Wildcats forum and CDC, and I read a ton of hockey blogs

5.) If you could get any tech gadget, what would you get?

Good question. Something small and portable that would let me painlessly (and preferably for free) surf, and contribute to, the internet whilst out and about, I think. Like an iphone or something.

Cutting it fine.....

I planned to make this calendar MONTHS ago. In the end I finally finished it on January 1st. Just in time, phew!

It is a pressie for my fab chappie Ian, I hope he likes it. He did nod and smile and make all the right noises, but it's hard to tell with boys :)

As it took forever and a day, I decided to get more mileage out of it by making some desk calendars too (see right at the bottom of this post, ink pad for scale) - so I got a load of 6"x6" colour copies done at Staples.

The original calendar is 12"x12"

The format of each page is the same - a background made from various paper ephemera primed with gesso and coloured with various acrlyic washes and drips of pearlescent acrylic inks. Month name stamped with toning pigment ink and clear embossed. Plus an iconic image to symbolise each month cut from textured card:




(drip drip drop, little April showers)

(here we go gathering nuts in May.....I was grasping at straws a little with this one :D)

(Strawberries at Wimbledon....)





(there's glitter on the fireworks but you can't really see in this pic)



Here is how the backgrounds were made:

1) Randomly tear and stick pages from an old book, and sheet music, to a large sheet of watercolour paper. (1 sheet makes headers for two months so you need 7 of them in total including the piece used for the front cover of the calendar). Fill in the gaps with rubber stamped images, using permanent black ink.



2. Once dry, use an old credit or store card to scrape gesso over the surface to whitewash and soften the papers.



3. Using washes of various acrylic paints, and undiluted pearlescent acrylic inks, colour each month's background paper in "month appropriate" colours.



And finally - the desktop version made from the colour photocopies mounted on black card (actually, I think I like it better smaller):



It was a lot of work, and I will probably never make another, but I am glad I stuck it out. I usually abandon biiiiiig projects like this about a quarter of the way in...

I couldn't really give Ian a calendar with only January-March in it though, could I? :D

I swear I thought I would never let up giggling

I LOVED the Winter Classic, but the OTT-ness of the Star Spangled Banner made me miss the first 5 minutes of the first, easy

I just couldn't stop laughing

It just got better and better, through pyrotechnics to the Top Gun re-enactment

I loved it, so so funny

Judge for yourself:



The way I see it, firstly the Canadians had their lovely, restrained, self assured, sexually confident, rendition of O Canada

Then the Yanks barge in with the BIGGEST manhood size complex eva eva ev-ahhh, and this was the result :D

If I was a Canadian sat in the Wrigley Field bleachers this afternoon, I would be so smug, secure in the knowledge that I just didn't need to try THAT hard.

As for the hockey - a thoroughly enjoyable game, and the right team won.

Happy New Year everyone :)

I'll have some arty farty stuff to share soon, but in the meantime I'm seeing the new year in with a tag stolen from Iva:

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
- Had a good, non dysfunctional relationship. And long may it continue
- Twittered
- Cuddled a hedgehog

2. Did you keep your New Year's Resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
- I can't remember making any last year, but if I did I doubt I kept them
- Have made 2 this year but am keeping them to myself

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, my good friend Anam brought the beautiful Lily into the world, and my pal Jo only just made it into 2008 with the late December birth of baby Emily.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
My Aunty Muriel, just a couple of days before Christmas.

5. What countries did you visit?
Canada, and France

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Energy, and time, and to see my best mate out of hospital and getting her life back

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
- January 1st, when that good, non dysfunctional relationship started
- the second half of March, when I was in Canada, had SUCH a great holiday
- Christmas Day, the best one of those I have had in years

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting my photos printed in the Wildcats programme :D

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not being able to stick to a diet for more than about a week

10. Did you suffer any illness or injury?
Nothing major. Colds and the occasional dicky tummy.

11. What was the best thing someone bought you?
My "wishful thinking" t-shirt

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
Alison's for the bravery she has shown in the face of all the awful stuff she has been through

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
No comment

14. Where did most of your money go?
- mortgage, bills, food, petrol
- art materials
- Friday Picnics
- hockey
- new lens for my camera

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Canada, Eurodisney, new hockey season, Tau

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
Hmmmm, good question. Not sure. Maybe Rolex by Wiley. Not very highbrow, but it's a banging tune :)

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? waaaaaaaay happier
b) fatter or skinnier? fatter by miles
c) richer or poorer? poorer

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Making stuff

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Faffing about on the internet

20. How do you plan to spend Christmas?
bit late with this one. I spent it with my sons and my dad and it was fab.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Yup.

22. How many one night stands?
None

23. What was your favourite TV program?
Heroes or the IT Crowd

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't hate anyone

25. What was the best book you read?
I was really enjoying the latest Terry Pratchett, but I lost it as I was about to reach the final chapter - so annoying!

26. What was your greatest musical discovery of the year?
High School Musical :D

27. What did you want and get?
Support and encouragement. and tenderness.

28. What did you want and not get?
- A mud free Bestival
- To be able to use rather than sell my ACE tickets to the Sens/Pens game in Stockholm

29. What was your favourite film of this year?
I only really get to see kids' movies. The best of those was Wall-E.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 41. I sulked for most of it as none of my kiddies had bought me anything and I thought I was going to go the whole day with zero recognition that it was even my birthday. But then Ian turned up with cake and pressies and cuddles and totally saved the day :)

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A Stanley Cup for Vancouver

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Canucks hoodies and Converse :)
Oh, and I bought some crimpers ------> And some legwarmers. And a FRANKIE SAYS RELAX t-shirt. 80s retro is go go go!

33. What kept you sane?
Hockey. Art. Music. Ian. Darby.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Still Ryan Kesler. Kid gets hotter by the minute :)

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
The US elections, I got really into them this year.

36. Who do you miss?
George.

37. Who was the best new person you met?
Ian.

38. What was the best thing you ate?
Marks and Sparks refrigerator cakes

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008?
Don't go to a festival if it has rained non stop for weeks and the site is already a mud bath

Tagged

This one is clearly doing the rounds, as a couple of people have sent it to me this week, idea is to flag the ones you have done, and presumably make plans to do the rest :) (well, maybe not all of them - I don't particularly want to go in an ambulance!)

So here goes:

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill* hasten to add this was a long time ago and I don't do it any more, boss!
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury* not yet, but I just got my papers so it will happen this year
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Your turn :)

Some piccies from this afternoon's geocaching expedition

Have I mentioned recently that I looooove my 85mm f1.8 prime lens?

Volare

A little pressie for my bessie, here's hoping she can fly home soon.

Shrine kit, bird and rusty star from the Retro Art Cafe

Patterned papers are by Cosmo Cricket

Twigs from my garden