Back from Harrogate

Well, I finally went and did it ...... I came home with one package too many from the Harrogate K&S Show and I've been wandering around trying to find a home for it (IT being wool - some Manos Silk yarn to knit a shawl/wrap and some James Brett Marble Chunky for a winter jumper) ..... it's now all just sitting in a bag in the bedroom, taking up floor space.  So - that's it - I've finally reached the point where I can't cram anything else into the house, so my New Year's Resolution has GOT to be to have a good clear out in the spare room/craft room and make some ROOM !!  The alternative is to throw my son out of the house and take over his bedroom as it has the most storage space (some great cupboard and shelf space which is definitely being wasted on him)!  *LOL*

Anyhow, had a lovely day out at the Harrogate show, lots of interesting stuff to look at (though not much in the way of papercrafting), and apart from the wool, I also picked up a few shimmery fabric scraps and braid, a Krylon gold pen at a really good price (this was a definite must-buy as my gold pen had run out and I just can't do without my Krylons - I love them for edging or sponging on my ATCs and books) and some Indian print woodblocks which will find a use as stamps in my artwork.  Here's a couple of pics of them.

There were several exhibitions running at the Show and I wish I'd taken my camera now .... I thought I wouldn't be able to take photos, but several people were clicking away at some of the exhibits, so I missed out there.  One exhibit was of a large fishing boat which had been completely covered in knitting, even down to the sea foam, pebbles, water, etc, all around its base.  I remember reading a magazine article about it some time back - visit this BBC link to read more about the project.  I was most impressed by the beautiful and unusual work of a textile artist called Jill Flower - I was fascinated by the Elizabethan style ruffs she had created in very fine detail from paper, words and stitchery.  Click on her name to go to her website to view some of these wonderful pieces in her Gallery.  Unfortunately, you can't get the full effect and see all the tiny details from photos.  I believe she is going to be running workshops (where, I don't know) creating paper brooches using this ruff technique.

On a different subject, if any of you enjoy making "inchies" or fancy having a go at some, go check out Ali's Art Factory blog where she has given herself a challenge to create 10 inchies every day for 10 days and then combine all 100 finished squares into one art piece.  Also, whilst you're there, check out the altered book Ali made with "Tags" as the theme .... it might inspire you to try altering a book yourself too.

Vintage Birthday Image

Thought I would post this vintage postcard image of a young girl with flowers for you tonight.  It may appeal to some of you to add to any cards you're making. 

I like the dreamy faraway look in the little girl's eyes and the subtle colour tinting.

I finally got round to doing a little bit of embossing today for a swap I'm in.  We had to create a 6" x 6" square tile and 12 inchies, all from matboard, using a particular colour range from turquoise through green to terracotta.  The only techniques allowed are inking, stamping and embossing - no embellishments!!! (which is tricky for me as I'm a great one for adding a few "twiddly bits")!  Anyway, I inked and stamped the "tile", lightly embossed a flourish around each corner, and then used clear UTEE to triple-emboss (well, it was double-emboss really, it didn't need a third coat) to cover the entire tile.  For the inchies I used a rubber stamp that Lindsay had given me - it was ideal because it has 12 cat images on it, each one 1" square.  The stamp is called "Kitty Tiles" (4578) from Hampton Art Stamps.  I made 24 inchies in total so that I could keep extras to use on some future ATCs.  Again, I "double"-embossed each little inchie.  So these will probably get posted out tomorrow and then Ali (our hostess) is going to mix up everyone's tiles and inchies so we'll each get back a tile complete with a pattern of assorted inchies on it.  I just love these colours!

I've also made a couple of ATCs for a Lucky Dip swap, we each choose from a list of titles - my choice was "Midnight", "Botanical", "Caged Bird" and "Weathered".  Here are pics of "Midnight" and "Botanical".  Two down, two to go!  I also made another botanical-themed ATC and have another two part made, as I had enough vintage bits of paper left over from the first one.  I used distress inks over the rather shiny plant paper and on the torn strips of paper from an old encyclopedia.  I used gel medium to adhere the paper strips to the background and as a coating over the whole card, which got rid of the shininess.  The card on the "Botanical" ATC is one of those old picture cards that came free in our tea boxes, the equivalent of cigarette cards, do you remember them?  I've added a flower shaped button, threaded with gauzy green ribbon, a skeleton leaf and a rub-on word.

Of course, I had to use Lindsay's "owl" stamp on my Midnight card - I've been using it a lot lately, plus her technique for blowing ink with a straw to create the stark tree branches the owl is sitting on.  I do like those techniques that turn out so random, you just never know what they're going to end up like!

I had the final set of instructions for completing the zetti pages I've been working on too - having added outlines and extra patterns to the pages with crayons or pastels, we now have to spend the next few weeks/months adding journalling to our pages, whatever we want, whenever the mood takes, and on which ever page fits the words (or vice-versa).  I've no idea how my pages are going to turn out, I'm not sure that what I've done so far looks "zetti", but .... we'll just have to see.  Apparently, there's no right or wrong way to do this, I guess I'll know when I've done enough on each page, then I send one out to each of the other participants.  Check out Elena's blog (My Name is Elena) in my bloglist to see what she has done - Elena has really got the hang of this zetti art and is turning out some wonderful looking work - well, I think so anyway, I know it won't appeal to everyone!