A Little Bit of Alteration ........

I can't believe a week has gone by since I last posted here.  We're still in the "big freeze", car marooned on the drive (just too icy and treacherous to risk moving it) and basically I haven't been further than the garden for the past week, talk about getting "stir crazy"!!!  I hope everyone has kept safe and sound during this icy spell, no slips or broken bones.  Despite being so chilly outside, it does look rather lovely - blue skies and bright sunshine - and if I wasn't such a "wimp" on the ice (I can do a brilliant impression of a penguin - LOL), it would be a gorgeous day for a walk.  Oh well, I'm afraid here I'm staying put until the thaw sets in.

I finally got around to finishing something that I had started just before Christmas with the intention of giving it to my sister Lindsay as part of her Christmas pressies - unfortunately, time sort of ran out on me and I had to put it to one side until now.  So, Lindsay, looks like you might be getting an extra belated present, always supposing you'd like it!

I always scour the charity shops when I'm in town, you never know what you might pick up there, and one of my latest acquisitions was this metal tealight holder, which I thought was just asking to be decorated.

The tealight holder was already painted green and I decided to leave this as it was, but you could change this if you wished by sanding it down, adding a layer of gesso, and then painting with acrylics over the top.  Instead, I chose to sponge all the metal parts, both inside and outside, with alcohol inks - I used a combination of Latte, Butterscotch and Gold.  (Before sponging the metal parts, I carefully removed the handle, lid and glass panels - be VERY careful not to cut your fingers when removing the glass, you might like to protect them with a cloth or paper towel).  This is also a very messy process, my fingers were covered with alcohol ink - it helps to squirt a little of the blending solution onto your hands when you come to wash them and give them a good scrub.

The next step was to pad out the space where the tealight would normally sit - I firmly squidged down a good wad of cotton wool, adhered with glue.  I had bought a small "guardian angel" resin figure which exactly fitted over the top of the tealight holder and I glued it down with some Glossy Accents. 

I added a layer of gold Stickles around the base of the "angel" and left it until it was completely dry (patience required here)!

The next thing that I decided to do was to adhere a sheet of double-sided tape to one side of two of the glass panels.  I then laid some gauzy fabric (mine had butterflies and dragonflies on it) over the glass with the right side of the fabric facing the sticky side of the glass.  I cut away the excess fabric and then slid each glass panel back into the tealight holder, either side of the hinged door, with the plain glass panel in the back and front.

I dribbled some more Glossy Accents around the base of the tealight, placed a white feather behind the angel and scraps of scrumpled fabrics/netting to cover the base.

I continued adding more embellishments around the "angel" - a butterfly charm (I only had silver ones so I altered it by colouring it with a gold Krylon pen), bronze pearls and a pearly bead chain, all glued to the netting/fabric with drops of Glossy Accents.

I covered the tealight "funnel" with double-sided tape and wrapped it with a vintage piece of tassel-edged trim.  I ran my gold Krylon pen around all the edges of the lid and panels, then wrapped the handle with thin gold ribbon and the beaded chain.  I also fastened a "word" charm to the handle (a Tim Holtz Philosophy charm - Believe), which I softened with a little gold metallic rub-on.  I reassembled the tealight holder then, as a final step, using a cotton bud, rubbed copper Stickles (I'd run out of gold) over all the surfaces.  Again, make sure to leave plenty of time for drying before you handle the finished item ..... and here it is ....

I hope you like it .... and perhaps it's given you some ideas for altering small items that you might come across in your local charity shop or car boot sale.  Why not have a go at giving something old a new lease of life and if you do, I'd love to see pictures of what you come up with!

Meanwhile, don't forget about the "Out with the Old, In with the New" ATC swap I'm running here - there's plenty of time to have a go at making some cards (the closing date is 12th February) - several have signed up already and I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Guardian Angels

The Guardian Angel swap that I was running was swapped out at the beginning of this week - we were a very "select" group of four (I guess everyone was caught up too much in preparing for Christmas to take time out for this one - or maybe it didn't appeal).  Anyway, here are pics of the ATCs and ornaments that we all created - as you can see, everybody put a different interpretation into their designs .......

Joanne's

Sheila's

Lindsay's

Mine

I used Crafty Individuals frames and images to make my ornament, along with embossing, fabric and feathery embellishments.  The ATC, again, used a Crafty Individuals image (they're one of my favourite craft companies, can't you tell?), matted over a gauzy ribbon fabric, and embellished with gold stickles, beads, ribbon and dictionary "angel" definition.  (The stars are part of the ribbon's pattern).

Thanks to Joanne, Lindsay and Sheila for participating in this swap - I hope you all enjoyed it - I loved seeing what everyone created.

Today I took my parents out to the local garden centre for a spot of lunch and a bit of Christmas shopping - I love to see all the Christmas decorations laid out, the glittery baubles, the trees, sparkly fairy lights, scented candles, but we were amused by this Santa Claus taking time out in his hammock at the entrance to the garden centre, dreaming of some faraway golden beach no doubt (his stomach actually moved up and down as though he was really breathing - LOL) - I just had to take a photo of him ......

I wonder what you're dreaming of this Christmas?

A Little Christmas Giveaway

What dreadful weather we're having this week, it's not stopped raining and the gales are terrific (though we haven't been suffering the same as those poor folk up in Cumbria who've all had to leave their homes due to the massive flooding) ..... anyway, instead of going into town to do my Christmas shopping I've stayed home, catching up on some of my art swaps and projects.

I thought I would have a little Christmas themed giveaway.  I have two cross stitch/beadng kits to make Christmas tree ornaments, plus a Christmas Angel ATC, which I will send to the first person picked at random on FRIDAY, 4TH DECEMBER.  If you'd like to be in with a chance of winning these items, then please just leave a comment on my blog between now and Thursday, 3rd December - remember to include an email or blog address so that I can contact you if you win! 

Here are the two kits - a Charmed Santa Face and a Holiday Beaded Jewel ornament.  They aren't difficult to make, but they're lovely keepsakes for your Christmas tree.

I also created a Christmassy ATC to go along with the kits for the giveaway.  The background for this card is a photo of my Christmas tree last year, to which I've added a strip of deckle-edged alcohol-inked glossy card, stamped with festive words, layered over another strip of creamy paper, with a glittery ribbon secured between the layers.  The angel image is from one of Crafty Individual's little books and I've finished the ATC with a star brad (it was blue so I used a gold Krylon pen to change it and then added a little bit of sparkle with a Sakura Stardust gel pen) and some words cut from an old dictionary.

I've been making a few more ATCs this week as well, some for a "general theme" monthly partner swap that I take part in.  Here's what I've been making:-

I also completed all the pages for a board book swap - "Paraphernalia" - each page had a separate theme chosen by members of the swap.  It's now waiting to be packed up and posted out to its new home (I'll try and post pics of it tomorrow).

Finally, little Mia is 14 weeks old today, so I thought I'd post a few pics of her so you can see how much she has grown - all her Siamese features are becoming much more pronounced now, her face has a sweet chocolate mask, her ears, legs and tail are getting very dark brown and she has a darker line running along her spine too - her tail still has its pigtail curl though!  We also found out that Mia is three-quarters Siamese and one-quarter Bengal (what a mix!!!! ..... we're definitely in for some fun!) ...... her latest favourite game is to chase little balls of screwed up paper and retrieve them - she drops them at our feet ready and waiting for us to throw them again.

Here's Mia, in three quite different moods ........

looking sweet and innocent, washing herself (check out the little pink tongue) .....

........ in playful mood with her favourite ball of paper ......

and drinking water from her own special glass (Mia decided this is much more interesting than using a bowl) .......

Here is the latest photo of little Mia - she is 12 weeks old today and getting to be a right cheeky madam.  She's as bright as a button and as naughty as she can be, but very cute with it, so she gets away with everything!

I hope some of you will have a go at joining in my Guardian Angel ATC/Ornament swap - you really can interpret this any way you like, just have some fun with it.  Joanne has already made her ATC and ornament (which looks wonderful) for this swap so go check them out on her blog for a bit of inspiration! 

My "Dream Journey" Journal came home!

As promised, here are pictures of the wonderful "Dream Journey" journal that came home to me a little while back.  This had been a round robin journal hosted by Ali Brandist - we each chose a title for our book and a rubber stamp that we didn't mind being without for a year, then we created the front and back covers, decorated them with the stamped image and words, and sent our books on to the next person in the RR circle.  Each person then created a page in that book, using the stamp they'd been sent and adding some words as well.  It was lovely to get the chance to see what other people created in each journal as they passed through our hands. 

When we started this journal, it seemed a long ways off before we'd see them again, but here they are, a year later, well-travelled and back home again.  I hope you enjoy looking at the pages in my journal as much as I do.

The front cover

Inside front cover and Page 1 by Mima Lewis

Pages 2 and 3 by Alison Brandist

Page 4 by Martha Rose Bond and Page 5 by Tracy Kaufman

Pages 6 and 7 by Karen Mercado

Pages 8 and 9 by Elena Vigil-Farinas

Pages 10 and 11 by Sandra Zengler

Pages 12 and 13 by Paula Sherman

Inside Back Covers

Back Cover

There is one double-page spread still blank in my journal as I'd added extra pages, so Graham has said that he would like to have a go at creating something on them for me too. 

I just love the feel of holding this little 4" x 4" chunky book in my hands, it is full of texture and embellishments, ribbons and charms - it is so charming and every time I look at it I see something new.  A big 'thank you' to all the artists who participated!

Now ..... if something like this appeals to enough of you, I'm thinking about organising a chunky book round robin through my blog after the New Year .... what do you all think?

Finally, I'd love to see more of you sign up to the Guardian Angel ATC and Ornament swap ...... if the 5th December deadline is putting anyone off, I may be able to extend the deadline by a few more days - but at the same time, I really don't want to leave it too late, I'd like everyone to receive their swaps before Christmas.  If you do fancy having a go, just drop me an email and I'll send full details.

New Swap - Guardian Angel ATC and Ornament

Lindsay let me know that my background went missing after I posted the witchy slideshow, so I just fixed it and used a different one for now - I think I must've deleted the original background when I was messing about adding a slideshow!

Okay - so as promised, here is a new Swap for you all.  I was chatting with my sister on the phone one day when I turned round and there on the windowsill next to me was a small white feather - the window was shut so I didn't know how it got there.  Lindsay said that seeing a feather like that unexpectedly meant my guardian angel was watching over me.  I'd never heard that before and it became the inspiration for this Swap.

In this Swap you will create one ATC with the image of a "guardian angel" (any style and medium) and one Christmas/Seasonal Ornament (the main body of this will be ATC-sized but any shape within that size and as heavily embellished/decorated as you like.  The embellishing can extend beyond the size of the ATC.  The ornament should also be decorated front and back and have some means of hanging eg a beaded loop or ribbons.

The deadline for this Swap will have to be 5TH DECEMBER in order to give me enough time to swap out and beat the Christmas post.  I've added the swap details in the sidebar.  If you want to participate in this swap, please email me to sign up and to receive full details of what is involved in this swap.  I do hope you'll all have a go at this one and give full reign to your imagination!

(Chunky book pics will be posted as soon as I can, as promised)!