Taking a peek in my Studio

Hi There Blogging Friends! Oh my goodness I've been busy lately. There is so many fun things to make and do that I seem to be dabbling in them all so; I thought I would give you a peek at what I have been up to.

First up; is my Mixed Media work. Our craft group is having a display for Autumn(Fall) so I created this canvas for it. I've used acrylic paints, texture paste, stamps, glimmer mist and sponged with found objects. Loved making this one.Here is a close up of my "mother bird". I used my 'Stampin' Up punch and punched her out of mulberry paper .Did you notice her little nest in the main pic? The leaves were stamped then handpainted with acrylic paints here and there.

This canvas is also for the Autumn display. I'm still working on it....background is done and I hope to get my girl finished this week. She is going to be throwing some Autumn leaves around.....Have you been tempted to lift up an armful of those gorgeous Autumn leaves and throw them in the air? I have!

and...Yes; I have been designing as well. Here is a cute softie shelf sitter. 'Happy Cat' got finished to-day.

and Yes; I have been knitting also. I fell in love with the delightful Mug Wraps that Val Pierce (UK) has just published in her book 'Knitted Mug Hugs'. Take a peek inside this fabulous little book....

Aren't they divine!! I purchased my book from our local 'Spotlight' Store here in Australia but if you want to track it down on the net; go to www.searchpress.com (the publishers) as I am sure you will find it there. Val has a range of these books called the '20 To Make Series' and all are filled with lovely little things to knit or crochet. Perfect little gift I think!

Finally; the mail has been kind to me with the sweetest tag, arriving from my swap partner from The Altered Paper Blog. As St.Patricks Day is in March, my partner Jane made this darling tag for me. I love it; as I don't have anything for St. Patricks Day. It will come out each year for display from now on. Thankyou Jane!

Fun With a 'Cool Cowboy'.

This project was a lot of fun blogging friends. It's the first Art Journal Challenge in a free 12 month workshop from the nice people at 'Art Journaling' ; who operate a ning group on the net. Each month there will be two challenges, with the aim of persuading us to get out of comfort zone and do something different.

For this challenge, we were asked to use the colours; denim blue, ochre, brown and walnut ink stain and to incorporate those colours into a cowboy page.

I decided to go for a giggle and give my cowboy and his horse "cool heads" which were the essence of their survival.

My cowboy is speaking to a passer by and saying

" It's tough out here Pilgrim, the only way to survive is to keep a COOL head!....lol!

It's amazing where a challenge can take you....if you want to join in the fun, just log into the group and request to join.....it's that easy!

An Arty Crafty Week!

Hi there blogging friends! I enrolled in Christy Tomlinson's 'She Art' on-line class earlier in the year, so have had a nice week coming up with my own style using the techniques Christy teaches.

Christy's girls are so bright and colourful and her backgrounds are alive with stamping, doodling and layers upon layers of papers and paint. If you haven't seen Christy's work you must pop over to her blog and drool over her talent.

Anyway; I'm a bit more conservative with my work, so came up with my first girl on a soft, soft background. I've allowed more of my papers to show through and tried to capture my girl walking through a garden in autumn.

With the aim of being as original as possible; I decided that my girls will have hats on their heads, so this one has a nice soft hat for her stroll in the warm sunshine. I also decided that I would have a foreground in front of my girls and this pretty bird sitting on a gorgeous open rose was just perfect. The papers I used are; 'Sweet Nothings' by KAISERCRAFT....just adore them!

Tags were also on my desk this week. Below is a special tag for my partner Jane who I have been paired with by Tee on The Altered Paper Blog. It is winging its way over to the USA as I type this post. Our subject was "Spring", which I believe is the upcoming season for the States.

The next tag is one of three that I completed for my friends at 'Roses On My Table' for our theme 'Lights-Camera-Action'. It was great fun searching through clip art images of Actors and Actress's to come up with a layout. In the end, I decided to go with; Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon who are both dressed up as women in the movie 'Some Like It Hot'. Marilyn Munro was the leading Actress in the movie as well.

I didn't have good light to take this pic but Tony is saying to Jack "this corset is killing me Jack" and Jack is thinking.....Mamma said there would be days like this! I loved keeping this layout in the black and white movie look of days gone by.

Free Photography Pics For You!

Hi There Blogging Friends! Did I tell you that I do a little bit of photography work?? Probably not, but yes I do, and I thought I would share some of my favourite floral pictures with you.

I have taken all of these photo's in the garden of my previous home or in the gardens of some of my friends.

You can use them if you like.....maybe as a nice background for something or; if you are real clever and can use Photoshop you could come up with anything amazing! Let me know if you do....I would love to see your creativity.

Pink Roses

Hydranger

Wisteria

Morning Glory

Pansies

Daisies

Frangipani Hope they warm the heart of all of my International friends who are still experiencing a cold snowy winter.

February Journal Journey

Hi there blogging friends! I have just completed my second page with the Journal Journey Group on Roses On My Table and I just love the soft colours I used for this one.

The prompt for February is; "you are different, you are unique". I used some vintage music sheets from the Opera 'Madam Butterfly' for the base papers.

Acrylic paints were white washed over the base papers. Then; I used stencils, stamps and found objects like sequin waste to create the textures. I am loving this type of mixed media background.

Here is a close up of the gorgeous vintage images that were free on the net. I can never remember where I get them, but you will see my favourite bloggers who generously upload free vintage photo's on my side bar. So pop over and visit them.

Swapping Fun Again!

Hi There Blogging Friends. My latest ATC challenge with my friends at 'Roses On My Table' is "Famous Artists". I have to say that I pondered quite a bit, about how to alter some famous art but; as soon as I got "Mona" in focus, there was no holding me back.

I'm sure Leonardo Da Vinci would not be impressed, but sorry Leonardo; Mona's gone mad about hats!

Here is a closer look at the six I am sending off to USA tomorrow...

I fell in love with the the sweet little boy below "James" on Tee's blog 'The Altered Paper' and do you know what; that sweet Tee sent him to me.....wasn't that soooooo nice!

Now; I don't know if you know it or not but there is an unwritten courtesy rule; that if someone gifts you with a special Artist Trading Card (ATC) which represents their work.....the polite thing to do is to send one of your's back. Apparently, this goes way back to the early Masters of Art.

So; below is my ATC which will be winging it's way over to Tee tomorrow.

She is called 'Gentle Woman'....

I also received my February Valentine Tag from Denise, my partner in Tee's swap at The Altered Paper. Denise reminds us to spread a little February love around out precious garden ornaments....so cute!

Have you given your gnome a little bit of love lately??

Happy Valentine's Day

In a couple of hours we will celebrate the arrival of 'Valentine's Day' here in Australia. It isn't something I've paid much attention to in years gone by (mmmm...at my age quite a few have gone by), but I now feel that in to-days world, we need as much "lov'in" as we can get.

So; I like to think of February as the month of love.

With this in mind I've joined in on the February Tag Swap on Tee's 'Altered Paper blog and the first pic is what I have created for my partner.

and....I created this ATC for my friend Jenny; who popped in to see me to-day.Have you made something sweet for someone yet, a friend, a family member, someone who is on the sick list ,someone a long way away? Don't worry there's plenty of time....spreading love for all of February will be nice don't you think!

Free Vintage Images From ME!

Hi There Blogging Friends! I never thought that I would be in a position to share Vintage photo's with you, but as they say "you should never say never".....because......opportunities can arise for you.

An opportunity did arise for me to purchase some of these fabulous 'Cabinet Cards' from a USA Etsy seller awhile back and; I also gathered up a couple more on my recent trip around Australia. So; crafty friends if you would like to copy them to your computer; just left click to enlarge the photo then; right click to save to your computer files. I hope you enjoy creating something with them.

A Sweet Lady With A Cross Necklace

A Handsome Man With a Moustache

They have to be; 'Three Lovely Sisters' don't they?
Three Precious Children

and my favourite......'Two Boys'

Oh So Happy Mail!

Are you finding any treats in your mailbox lately?? Oh my goodness I am and it is so much fun!

I received this lovely tag to-day in Australia; where it is hot and humid and; it was a joy to see all this shimmering of ice and snow in the coolness of a blue background.

This lovely tag was sent to me by Mercedes of 'All Things Pretty' for our January swap with The Altered Paper.

Then; I received a huge parcel from my Tag Art friends at Roses On My Table which is co-ordinated by the lovely 'Chel'. Included in my parcel were three tags from my swapping friends for our November subject; 'Statues'.

Love this bronze bucking bronco....yea hah!

This bronze statue of the chinese man is beautifully surrounded by gold and green...very classy!I adore this tag of the Statue of Liberty and the saying "Freedom Lies In Being Bold". Isn't that the truth friends.....and who helps the world more to remain free than that wonderful country USA!

The next tag was our December Christmas Tag Swap. I am so in love with these little birdies on the branch, can never get enough birdies in my life!

Below is a pic of how my tags arrived in the mail to-day. It is such a thrill to get envelopes that make you want to rip them open and read every inch of what is inside.......I must say the bill envelopes never give you that feeling!

But wait there's more.......inside my parcel from Chel was this delightful treat of home baked fudge...how wonderful is that...all the way from USA and as fresh as if it was baked to-day.

Then; as if some home baked treats were not enough; the lovely Chel also put in some little Christmas gifts. This gorgeous girl is going to get some serious loving go back over to her shortly.

If you're not getting 'happy mail' think about joining in on the many swaps that are on the Internet, especially with fellow bloggers. I promise you; it will be a wonderful experience!

Paper Dolls Again!

Hi There Blogging Friends. I've been dabbling in "Steampunk" for my January Swap of Paper Art Dolls and it has been a lot of fun. These two ladies were a free image gift on the net (sorry, I can't remember where), so I altered them to create the two dolls. I think the one on the left is saying to her friend;

"yes.....just another day running a machinery company!" .....lol.

And....my mail has brought some lovely gifts. This pretty ATC was sent by my partner, Donna from Red Apple Junction in the 'Vintage' Swap. It is soooo nice as it has been glued to a small photo frame backing, so I can stand it up....thankyou Donna.

This precious ATC was a gift that I won in a Giveaway with Laura over at Artfully Musing. What a joy it will be to bring it out each New Year....thankyou Laura, I love it!