Saturday Nights Together

Well im sat at my craft table and I have an audience !
Sam and Dotty are cuddled up watching me. They are so pleased to be spending so much time together. Dottie has asked if she can help make the Sunday Dinner tomorrow, Roast Lamb ! Sams favourite.
I imagine the antics in the kitchen may end up on film !

Agyness Deyn

Its coming up to my sons birthday, and hes a huge Agyness Deyn fan. When I saw these sample cards advertising the new perfume from Jean Paul Gautier, I just couldnt resist.
The small images were on the reverse of the cards, the picture is really good , they are on glossy card and look like photographs. I drew black lines on a plain white card and the attached the images. Although I havent taken a picture , Ive stamped the verse inside with red embossing powders, looks good with the black and white.
They have made a simple but wonderful card, perfect for him. He needs something to cheer him up so hope this helps.

Awfully Big Art Adventure Week 6

This is my altered box file for the Awfully Big Art Adventure challenge week 6.
I had a great time doing this, It was more like a Scrapbooking page, and the fact that it was in my favourite colours helped too.
Started off with a plain box file, and added that lovely purple Dotty Paper from Bo Bunny. (This impressed Dottie she thought it was named after her !)
I added my photo, which Ive just been waiting for the right moment to use, I think its a lovely image. The hearts I punched out then used an emery board to sand off the edges and give them a worn look. A little vase of flowers with Lilac added flowersoft to give texture and of course the wonderful Grungeboard which I bought from Karen at Scrapz. Wow this is amazing stuff and I dont know how I didnt know about it before.
I added the words "Inspire me" on the side with the key to the lock.
Inside I used another piece of printed paper and then tried out a stamp I have had a while and never used, the peacock, I printed it on white card and then coloured it all by hand with paints, distress inks and stickles. I love it. I was sorry when it was finished I had such a good time.
Thank you to Linda and Rosie for the Inspiration for this fantastic project.

Distress Inks and Dottie

Dottie has been a huge help, shes been helping to get these atc's ready to post off to a friend.
We have been working with distress inks and rubber stamps. My sewing machine was at the side of my crafting table and Dottie talked me into trying to do some sewing on one of the atc's, it turned out quite well.
She insisted getting in on the photos, and is getting quite a dab hand at posing when the camera comes out.

We have been working on my altered box file which will get posted tomorrow as the light isnt any good for photograhs at this time of night.
Shes sound asleep now, dreaming of Sam no doubt........

I got roped in....again !

The last 2 days have been spent making last minute Halloween costumes, although they all know I hate sewing, they turned up yesterday morning with bag fulls of stuff that needed , gluing, painting, sewing, curling, cutting and accessories making.
My grand daughter Emily was a Vampire, and my Grandson Joe was Optimus Prime, although he wouldnt put his head piece on and went in the huff a bit.
My son David was having a party tonight at his house for about 30 people. I went around about 5 pm to help him get ready.
I have altered a nurses outfit for him and cut his wig from a long curly one to a short flicked out style. First we put latex scars on his face, then covered the whole of his face with the white paint, then the black eyes and red lips, he was the Joker dressed as a nurse, from the new batman film. He had black lacy stockings on and very high white high heeled shoes.
My son Andrew, went as the "Phantom Raspberry Blower from Old England Town" so I had 30 business cards to make for him with a raspberry on. Thats him in the black mask and hat, and cape.
The rest of the group arrived just as I was leaving, I think I would have cramped their style if I had stayed and taken photos of all the rest.....My job was complete, for another year.
Now to some crafting, maybe its not a good idea to have all this craft stuff, its too easy for them to say , "Mam will sort it" I just hope they have a good time.

Pizza, and a bottle of Hock !

My oh my.......talk about living for the moment.......I ordered a pizza for my daughter coming in last night and these two asked if they could have some.....well by the time my daughter came in it was half gone ! How can two little people eat so much?, mind the wine was flowing also, My intention was to have a glass when I finished crafting but they seemed to be working their way through the bottle nicely, I thought I better not have any .....needed to keep a clear head to be able to keep an eye on the situation. Talk about catching up, they didnt stop talking all night !
Dotties going to help me today doing my challenge for the Awfully Big Art Adventure as Sam is on call during the day.

Reunited

Sam was over the moon to see Dottie today and they wasted no time catching up on everything that had been going on while Dottie had been away. They are busy working their way through a huge Pizza and wait for it.....a bottle of wine.
Seems like they are celebrating Halloween in style.

Paris

Although these little cards have already gone off in the post to a dear friend I thought I would post them on my blog anyway.
They are my favourite theme........PARIS.
It is now 1 whole year since I was last there and I miss it terribly.....I have consoled myself with Paris themed rubber stamps......but its not working.
I will have to start saving , I have withdrawal symptoms really badly !A year is the longest I have gone without visiting Paris in the last 4 years, the shortest time between visits is only 1 1/2 months......

A Fantastic Find !

Im sure there are many of you out there who like me have ruined numerous tops , t- shirts etc with paints and Inks while you have been crafting.
After one such accident last week I decided I would like an oversized shirt , to use as an art shirt to prevent any future accidents.
Years ago I had a great collarless shirt which I loved and this gave me an idea .....i searched the net and found this amazing company with really well priced shirts. I ordered myself a Navy one and was very pleased I had found an art shirt that looked the part.
My surprise was the next day, not only did my shirt arrive the next morning , but when I opened it and saw the colour and quality of the material I was really very pleased. Its so comfortable also. Why dont you check out the shop here I dont think for one moment you will be dissapointed if you treat yourself to one of these shirts, to be honest mine hasnt been used as an art shirt as I love it that much it looks great with my jeans, and i was worried about getting paint on it, the quality was so good, but I will be ordering again , and then eventually I will use one as an art shirt. They would make a great gift for any guy in your life, Ive even had to hide mine as my daughter had it on with a belt and it looked great. Go on , treat yourself......visit Kaboo World and check out their shirts......

Art y pico Award

Faye has honored me with the following Blog award. Thank you so much.

This Arte y Pico award has a few rules:

1. You must pick 5 blogs deserving this award for their creativity, design, interesting material and for contributing to the blogging community.
2. Each awardee must have the name of the author and a link to their blog.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her the award.
4. Award winner and the one who has given the prize must show the link of Arte y Pico blog, so all will know the origin of this award: Arte y Pico.


The 5 I would like to nominate are,

1. Rosie and Lindas Awfully Big Art Adventure.

2. Ink stains with Roni

3. Zuzus petals

4. Eclectic Visions of an altered Journey

5. Nancy Torsen


All of these creative friends really inspire me on a regular basis, Thank you to all of you , Jaqi

Awfully Big Art Adventure Week 5

Well finished at last, although it took me well into the early hours of last night.
I now know I am not and engineer or architect.........
This roof gave me quite a few headaches to say the least, but not wanting to be beaten I carried on......
Starting with a hard box that came with a bumper pack of Teabags in it ( I tried a carton and it wasnt very sturdy after my alterations, I wanted something I could actually use )I painted it with Gesso (wonder if used as a body cream it would still cover up imperfections? anyway moving on....) then a coat of acrylic paint all over, added some lace, then sponged on a darker coulor, then added metalic paint sponged onto the lace only.

Side one, the front, My door embossed in black metalic embossing powder, and number 16 my favourite number, the key is above the door and to the left an umbrella and bag with a quote which reads " Visits from dear friends make life sweeter", also a little sign which says " House work stinks" hehehe.

Side 2 , A beautiful lady looking from the window, which was sponged with distress inks and rubbed lightly with metalic paint, and a wonderful women quote, and a big crow in the rafters.....

Side 3 , Similar to side 2 although 4 baby birds in the rafters here.

Side 4 , The garden, I love my tree, not sure if you can see but the tree has been covered with Flower soft so it stands right out from the box, some flowers , a butterfly and a dragonfly.

The roof, above the garden has the word "Imagine" on it, a sunflower with a ladybug and lastly a hot air balloon with a cherub inside. The roof at the front hosts my Initial "J" and a little heart, "Art doesnt have to be perfect " quote ( as this house is far from perfect) and theres a black crow sitting on the quote.

It houses my tea lights now, saves them all being loose in the kitchen drawer.
Thats the tour of number 16 all done. Thank you for looking. xx

In Memory Of My Dad

Today marks the 4th anniversary of the death of my Wonderful Dad. His name was Eddie and he was my best friend.
He battled with Cancer but never complained. He is a huge miss in my life everyday.
I wanted to make something I could carry around with me in my handbag that linked me to him.
In the past I have made Scrapbook pages to mark special days i.e. Fathers day etc, but due to the size its not practical to carry them with my as they would only get damaged.
While Blog hopping i found this on Roni's blog.
I knew straight away that it was perfect for what i needed.
I gathered all of the bits and pieces together and promised myself it would be made in time for today.
I achieved what I set out to do. I love my little Domino Accordian book and its something I can carry around with me, even in my pocket if I want to.
I would like to say Thank You to my cousin Tom who very kindly drilled the holes for me ( I couldnt be let loose with a drill !)
I have pictures of a watering can, as he loved his garden, a car, as he drove all of his life, a gold embossed clock to remind me that time goes too quickly, a small photo of my dad , his name, a stamp, as we used to have a post office, and some quotes.
I will make more of these in the future they are lovely to make, Thank you to Roni for the inspiration.
Thank you for reading my post xx

To Sew or not To Sew

This is my entry for The Awfully Big Art Adventure challenge this week. The challenge was to make an arch with fabric. This takes me right out of my comfort zone TOTALLY.......I do not sew very well at all, my blanket stitch around the outside leaves alot to be desired, LOL , and the french knots that are holding the pink heart in place would make my Auntie Amalia ( who spent hours showing me these stitches when I was a child) turn in her grave........they look more like untidy running stitches......
I thought it best to file it in the bin and just pretend I hadnt done one hehehe, naughty I know but I feel its maybe better described as an example of how not to do it hehehe. Feel free to laugh at this example ......I am, LOL the best of it is its all stitched apart from the little quote which is glued on, quite appropriatly it says "unspoken words". I feel it is just the finishing touch it needed........In Geordie land we would say " Say Nowt" LOL

By accident

This little atc happened by accident, I used a blank card to test out stamping some paint rings, which I wanted to use on a background page in a scrapbook, the card was left to one side to dry, a couple of days later i came across this image of this couple in an art magazine, which matches perfectly the stamped acrylic rings, BINGO ......one atc. It was just meant to be LOL........

Websters pages

Oh my.....Check this out for a fantastic giveaway. Have a look here and leave your details, you wont be dissapointed its a brilliant package of goodies and you could be in with a chance to win, dont miss it hurry and have a look ........

Paperartsy

Inspired by a little card which came in with an order recieved from Paperartsy I made this little atc.
Messing about with Tim Holtz distress inks that I got from Scrapz i had a great time making the colourful backgrounds. I then doodled the way they had and re inked with additional colours using a cotton bud ( a must in my tools these days) to get into the tiny areas.

Papergirls Challenge

This was my entry for the Papergirls Challenge over here
I enjoyed the challenge of altering the envelope, dont think the postman would be very pleased to get this in his postbag though......
Thanks for visiting and reading my blog.

Soul Journal pages 3,4,5 & 6

I have struggled for a couple of weeks not sure about the pictures for pages 3 & 4.
The pictures that were suggested held no meaning for me, and I wanted my Soul Journal to be full of meaning.
I struggled with the decision but finally decided to use magazine cuttings but different from the ones that had been suggested.
Above my images I have wrote prompts for myself,
* To remember the past
* To remember excitement
* To remember love
* To remember to hope
* To remember to walk
* To remember to hear
* To remember to drink water
* To remember to love
and lastly
* To remember to Dream.

I am happy with my cuttings and now these pages have meaning for me.

Pages 5 & 6 started out a pretty blue and have ended up very dark with touches of metallic gold paint. Although dark they are still very me and again have some meaning, I wrote my text beneath the layers of tape and then the pages have had about 5 coats of paint, my text is well hidden........

Ive had a good time with these pages , although I havent followed the instructions to the letter, Im pleased with what I have done. Thank you for visiting my blog.