Looby Ruby

Forest Gate Festival - Sat 10th July 2010

2010-07-13T12:49:00.002+01:00

This is the 11th year that the Forest Gate Festival has been running and it's just as popular as ever - as the number of stall holders and turnout of visitors proved.

I've always loved this particular Festival and though I'm not a resident of Forest Gate (I'm only a couple of towns away) this is one festival I like to attend regularly as a stall holder.

My stall selling a range of handcrafted items

altered CD's, decorative tin cans, mosaics

The Festival is held on Osborne Road, a really lovely tree lined street with Victorian terrace houses, many with their original wrought iron and glass fronted porches and sash windows. The road is blocked to traffic for the whole day and we stall holders set up our tables on the pavement outside designated houses.

Forest Gate Festival

I've learnt from previous years to always come prepared for rain or shine, so many of us had gazebos or awnings over our tables in the event of rain, or as in today's case, the scorching heat of the sun. The weather was absolutely beautiful and the temperature was in the 30's. Perfect Festival weather with plenty of food and drinks available (by drinks I mean ice cold and totally alcohol free of course!)

handbound notebooks & journals

handbound albums and greeting cards

On my table I was selling a whole range of my handcrafted items such as mosaics, hand bound books, decorative tin cans, altered CD's, ceramic brooches, stampboard brooches and greeting cards. The only thing on my stall not handmade by myself were the Indian embroidered and beaded handbags.

As in the past couple of years this year's Festival was a plastic bag free zone and the organizers were handing out bundles of free hessian bags to all the stall holders to give out to their customers - such a good idea!

a variety of mosaics

Indian embroidered & beaded handbags

I love the atmosphere of this Festival - there's a real sense of community spirit and not only can you feel it but you can see it - in the smiles, helpfulness, generosity and friendliness of the stall holders and visitors alike :-)

Forest Gate Festival just starting

There were plenty of activities happening for everyone - face painting and tower climbing for children, henna painting, make and take tables, music, workshops and street entertainers. Though my only criticism was there wasn't such a variety of street entertainers this year as there has been in the past. That said, the entertainment that was there was brilliant.

The stilt walkers were so funny - especially the Tea Lady who'd come down the street pushing her musical tea trolley. She'd be chatting to you one minute and then would break out into a a little song and dance the next and would get you to join in - she was amazing :-)

"how about a nice cuppa tea?" asked the stilt walking Tea Lady

oooh aargh me hearties! stilt walking pirates in their boat

There were also a group of ladies performing some belly dancing and hoop dancing.

Belly dancing

One of the most entertaining acts was a group of African men who performed the most amazing and energetic acrobatic routine. They had such balance and skill in their act. One of them was a contortionist and could roll himself up into a ball and the others would pick him up and put him into an ordinary metal bowl.

Amazing African Acrobats

They would stand on each others head and then leap about doing somersaults and back flips and would juggle hats onto their heads and juggle bats. Their act would include audience participation, which would make it even funnier and they would combine it with a comedy routine - all this with no speaking! The audience were just spellbound and gasping at some of their breathtaking stunts - truly incredible!

and for my next trick.....

The Festival started at 11am and continued till 6pm, when everything was over for another year. Stall holders began to pack up, customers scoured round for last minute bargains, and Osborne Road slowly transformed itself back into a residential road again after all the excitement and fun of the Forest Gate Festival.

I'm so looking forward to next year! :-)

Paste Papers

2010-05-12T03:37:00.001+01:00

Look what I've been up to!

I was busy making paste papers that will end up as covers for future hand bound books.

Instead of making my own paste from flour I decided to take the easy way out and use wallpaper paste instead.

pretty paste paper sheets hanging in a row

The results are pretty much the same and the consistency of the paste is also pretty much the same as flour paste, only this is the quick and easy method and saved me cooking over a hot stove - so to speak:-)

blues, purples, greens...

The paper I used was just ordinary A3 copier paper. Though next time I would use a slightly heavier paper as I found this too thin and some of the papers tore.

oranges and reds...

You wouldn't believe it, but a pigeon actually pooped on one of my papers - cheek of it! The little blighter could've just told me he didn't like the colour instead of showing such literal distaste for it!

greens, blues, lilacs...

I just mixed up the paste according to the manufacturers instructions in a margarine tub and then divided the mixture into separate boxes and added acrylic colours into each box. I had an assortment of tools to leave impressions into the paste - you'd be amazed at how many ordinary household objects can be used to leave impressions. Fingers are the best for making impressions though and much more fun!

greens and blues

Making paste papers, though thoroughly enjoyable, is extremely messy, so I made sure my work surface was covered in newspaper and had extra sheets to constantly change as they became tacky and started sticking to the paste papers.

Mixing the paints into one another on the paper and folding the paper onto itself and then dotting all over the reverse with my fingers resulted in a very pleasing pattern.

The patterns and colours that can be created are endless and before I knew it I'd ended up with a huge stack of patterned sheets that I know I'll be able to use in my art.

It's really important to allow the paste papers to dry thoroughly before using them, otherwise all that hard work and time put into creating them will go to waste if they've all stuck to one another and torn.

I liked the idea of my colourful sheets flapping in the breeze.

PASTE PAPERS READY TO USE

Whilst drying, the papers will naturally curl around the edges and crinkle slightly but once dry they can be ironed between sheets of baking parchment with an iron set on dry not steam. This will flatten and smooth them and then they can be put under a pile of heavy books for further flattening if necessary.

So, this is what my stash of paste papers looked like after they'd been dried and ironed flat. I'm so pleased with them all.

a colourful assortment of paste papers....

...with a variety of patterns...

...and stamped impressions.

Here's what I made with my last batch of paste papers

coptic bound books

Austrian bound books

Stay tuned for what I'll make with my new batch of papers! :-)

LONG MELFORD

2010-05-11T15:15:00.001+01:00

The last time we visited Long Melford, a few years back, we just drove through it really on the way to some place else - so we didn't get a chance to actually visit. This time, however, we did and though we got there late on Saturday afternoon, when all the antique shops had closed we did get to browse in and out of some quaint gift shops and stop for tea at a lovely little tea room.

Long Melford is one l-o-n-g stretch of road...

filled with old pubs and inns...

The Bull - built in 1450 and has been an inn since 1570

The Crown Inn

Beautiful old buildings - Gappmaiers Restaurant

Antique shops - Noel Mercer Antiques

Long Melford, a former wool town in the Middle Ages, is a lovely village in the heart of the Suffolk countryside. It's claim to fame lies in being the Antiques Capital of Suffolk and it's wide, tree-lined street has a wealth of interesting gift and antique shops, some of which were featured in the 80's British TV series "Lovejoy".

old timber framed window

pretty shop windows displaying their wares

shop window displaying Golly's tea party

Fabulous gift shop - was like an Aladdin's Cave full of wonderful treasures to buy.

pretty, dainty, beautiful things

I loved walking along the street looking at all the old buildings and wondering about their history. There is a delight to see in every direction, from the rickety old buildings surrounded by timber framed windows and the oak beamed fronts to the charming doors and house name plaques on the walls. Some even had dates on them which was good to see.

doors...

house names...

and year plaques

these buildings were built in 1868 according to the plaque

terraced buildings painted in delicate pastel tones

Long Melford is also fortunate to have two stately homes: Melford Hall and Kentwell Hall (which often hosts Tudor weekends). Suffolk wool towns such as Lavenham are nearby.

Scotsdales Garden Centre - Cambridgeshire

2010-04-29T16:41:00.002+01:00

My family and I visited this massive garden centre recently on a gorgeously sunny day and I must say what a wonderful day out we had.

A warm welcome upon entering Scotsdales

candles, lanterns & barbeques

gorgeous coloured glassware

Scotsdales is located in Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire and is a huge garden centre selling everything you could possibly want for your gardening needs and more.

vegetable & flower seed packets

They also have a Pet Corner and sell a small selection of live birds and animals such as rabbits, hamsters and gerbils.

This particular black one was not for sale but a resident

These parrots were not for sale - the grey one could talk but chose not to on this particular day - I guess we all have these days!

looks like a huge budgerigar to me:-)

Scotsdales also supply a huge variety of fish in their Aquatics Department. They are well stocked for all your fishy supplies. I saw some beautiful species of fish here - pond fish to tropical aquarium fish

beautiful colours!

Koi Carp

I was enchanted !

The indoor plant selection was vast and varied and my head was turning in all directions.

beautiful, vibrant glazed pots

bronze sculptures amongst the indoor plants

has anyone seen my gorilla? - Oh there you are Kong:-)

oranges and lemons.....la la la la la la la :-)

I just love begonias

aisle upon aisle and row upon row, of shrubs and flowers

I bought some sweetpeas, a Japanese pink wisteria and another shrub that had little pale pink bell shaped flowers on - am forgetting it's name now.

a magnificent magnolia tree reaching up to the sky - I 'd love one of these!

Mmmm... Camelias - who doesn't love these beautiful flowers?

bedding and border plants

Anyone for a gnome or a fat robin - even a hiding hedgehog?

I went absolutely potty outside when I saw the range of terracotta and glazed garden pots Scotsdales stock. Though I was dismayed at some of the prices - whew! too steep for my purse.

unglazed terracotta pots

glazed pots of all colours and hues

Mediterranean looking terracotta pots

blue glazed pots

green glazed pots

yet more pots

We stopped for lunch in their lovely Sunflower Cafe - unfortunately by the time we stopped there for lunch at around 2pm, they had run out of sandwiches - so settled for soup of the day and some pastries with teas and coffees.

Scotsdales has a very well stocked gift shop selling greetings cards, gift wrap, cards, a wide range of books, ceramics and other gifts. It really is a lovely place to shop.

Look what I bought! Oh and I bought that lonely little hedgehog too:-)

For more info go to Scotsdales

The Red Lounge Restaurant & Taster Event in Soft Furnishings

2010-04-28T03:49:00.001+01:00

I recently had the good fortune to visit The Red Lounge Restaurant in Walthamstow, London E17 and have to say the dining experience was certainly different from what I've experienced before - oh totally in a good way of course! Not that I'm a Restaurateur or anything like that:-)

It's the first (that I'm aware of) restaurant that caters for women only and where women can meet, eat, socialise, and network completely free of any male presence - that includes waiters, kitchen staff and counter staff.

In fact it is what it's business card says, "An innovative environment created by women for women".

The restaurant does, however, open to families on weekends so men are welcome then.

I was really impressed with the interior decor. It was very Moroccan - which from what I learnt, is where the owners got their inspiration from. Evidently, on a trip to Morocco they were so impressed by the cuisine and Moroccan style that they were inspired to bring some of it back with them and create this little haven over here.

The walls are roughly plastered and painted in a lovely pale terracotta and there are Moroccan lanterns and lights installed on the ceiling and arranged on the floor as well as other Moroccan objects d'art. The lighting is dim and soft - that just added to the relaxed ambience of the place and there was soft music filtering through.

I was even impressed by the loos - the one I popped into had a beautiful mosaic design on the walls and Moroccan artefacts arranged tastefully on the floor - collection of pots and vases in different sizes and forms - it actually felt very inviting - which is quite a funny thing to say about a loo:-)

At the far end of the room was a huge carved wooden doorway with doors that opened within the arches of the frame, out onto a Courtyard garden that was still under construction. This impressive door was actually shipped over from Morocco for this restaurant - now that is impressive!

When it came to the food - well the menu was mouth wateringly good. I must make it clear, this is not a gourmet restaurant - so don't come expecting gourmet meals at gourmet prices. The food here is more casual and relaxed , but no less tastier than a gourmet meal I must add and at much friendlier prices:-)

I had flame grilled chops with a warm couscous salad with a mango lassi to drink and a tantalizingly good lemon cheesecake for dessert. To round up we were served refreshing mint tea in those beautiful coloured Moroccan glasses that I love so much and a plate of the most mouth meltingly good baklava.

I would really recommend this restaurant to women who want to experience a different way of dining. An oasis in the middle of a sprawling High Street . Somewhere to escape and daydream that you're in a Casbah in Morocco. Somewhere you can meet up with like minded women for lunch and to network and somewhere that'll leave you pleasantly surprised and planning on when to visit again.

Link to The Red Lounge Restaurant:

http://www.theredlounge.co.uk/mainmovie.html

TASTER EVENT AT THE RED LOUNGE RESTAURANT - SOFT FURNISHINGS by ROSINA

I happened to be invited here for a taster class in soft furnishings run by a lovely lady called Rosina. She's a Soft Furnishings Designer and runs workshops and classes from home. She even caters for parties and arranges groups or individual tutoring.

Rosina laid on some delicious snacks all deliciously catered by The Red Lounge, while she explained to the small group of six of us, eager eared ladies, about her work and the workshops she ran.

Rosina had bought lots of samples of her work for us to "ooh" and "aah" over - scatter cushions, frames, boxes, decorative items, decorations, small keepsake board - to name just a few.

After telling us a bit about herself she asked us to introduce ourselves and tell the group a bit about ourselves. It turned out we were a really good mix of intelligent, funny, creative, professional women and we all bonded immediately:-)

Rosina explained that she was holding this taster lesson in order to promote her workshops and for us to get a taste for the work she does so that we could create something ourselves and spread the word - great concept!

She suggested we all work on cushions that she had already made at home and we were to add the final touches to these "blank canvas cushions". She had bought with her a whole array of trimmings in a myriad of designs and colours for us to select and sew onto our cushions.

I must say Rosina's a great teacher and is very attentive and offers advice and suggestions generously. She's also a dab hand with the sewing needle and has an eye for colour and design, so she was able to help those of us who were unsure of what trimming to use and where to position it and apply it.

All in all this taster course proved to be a great success. We all thoroughly enjoyed the evening and the experience, met new and wonderful women, had delicious food to savour, created fabulous cushions - shown here - and on top of that they were ours to take home - what more could we have asked for!

For more information about Rosina's workshops and courses and to view a gallery of all the beautiful items she's created just go to this link:

http://www.alflamboyant.co.uk/

BIG STAMPING & SCRAPBOOKING SHOW – ALEXANDRA PALACE – 10.04.10 – 11.04.10

2010-04-14T15:39:00.003+01:00

I can’t believe how quickly this show comes around each year. It seems barely have I spent all my money at the previous show the next show comes along and Whoosh! my savings have gone again!

Admittedly, the show does come round twice a year – the Spring Show in April and the Autumn show in September – and again admittedly, I do attend both usually;-)

The Palm Court Entrance of Ally Pally

The venue of Alexandra Palace or “Ally Pally” as we Londoners affectionately call it is a beautiful place. It sits high on a hill in North London with a magnificent panoramic view of the London skyline spread majestically in the horizon – it’s a beautiful sight to see on a clear and sunny day.

We had a clear and sunny day on this particular day of visiting the show, but I was too busy inside buying stuff like a crazy person:-) It was noticeably quieter this year and I caught snippets of people’s conversations commenting the same thing – I wonder why? In a way it was good as you had more room to move around without feeling crammed in.

Inside the Palm Court of Ally Pally

I got there quite early on Saturday morning at 9.30am and the doors were due to open at 10am. There was already a huge queue of ticket holders lined up at that time. So, when the doors finally opened on the dot of 10 everyone just poured in eagerly with full purses and lengthy lists and I’m sure, like me, they left with only half the things on their lists and empty purses:-)

Barbara Gray’s (Clarity Stamp) stand was absolutely jam packed with crowds all around watching her fabulous demos. I always love to watch her demo-ing her products and techniques. She is such a lovely lady, always cheerful and friendly. This time, however, I wasn’t able to even get near her due to the throng of people. I did manage to greet her on the way out though.

Inside the Exhibition Hall

My other all time favourite stand to visit is the LB Crafts Stand where they stock so much of the Paper Artsy range as well as the Glimmer Mists and Viva range of paints. I always spend far too much at this stand – and their demos are so fantastic! My personal theory is they tantalize your senses with their delicious demos that you have no choice but to buy all the products:-D Oh well, I tell myself it’s money well invested:-)

The LB Stand – one of my favourites

There weren't many people swapping ATCs this year either - though I did meet up with Deb (Rustycage) and we swapped 2 for 2. Her new series of ATCs using her painted background technique is really cool and I am now the proud owner of two of those - Yay!! Good seeing you there Deb:-)

THIS IS WHAT I BOUGHT – WHEW!

Delicious, yummy eye candy to delight you…

…tantalize you and….

…tease you

Bye for now!

Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandra_Palace

http://www.alexandrapalace.com/

http://www.jbutler.org.uk/London/Haringey/AllyPally.shtml

CAMDEN TOWN REVISITED

2010-04-12T16:01:00.001+01:00

In my previous post I’d mentioned that I hadn’t gone to Camden Town in absolutely years and now I’ve visited again in the space of just two weeks – that’s saying something isn’t it? Well, last time I went it was such a dull, dismal day and everything looked grey. When I went again, a few days ago, it was a beautiful Spring day – the sun was out, the skies were blue and everything looked so bright and cheerful. It was more like a Summers day – everyone was wearing summery clothes, T-shirts, frocks, flip flops even!

The markets were buzzing and thronged with people – such an eclectic mix – people watching is such an enjoyable pastime whilst sitting have your lunch on the motorbike seats by the canal:-) There is such a wide variety of cuisines to be had: Thai, Indian, Mexican, Italian, Chinese and even good old British fish n’ chips!

After touring around Camden Lock Village Market I began to feel like Alice in Wonderland wandering round maze-like alleys, passing beach hut shops that all, after a while blurred out of focus into a riot of colour. You realise, that, after a while you begin to see repetition everywhere – the same bags, style of clothes, accessories, jewellery etc only slightly differing in prices competitively – but it’s all in the game of Retail Shopping Experience!

View Full Album

FISH PEDICURE

One unit I stopped at offered a fish pedicure experience like no other - and believe me it’s like no other that I've had ever! You simply dangle your feet in a tub of water inhabited by a horde of tiny little Garra Rufa fish and they dart in and around your feet nibbling and sucking away at the dead skin and calluses, leaving your feet at the end of the session, amazingly smooth and refreshed.

These tiny little fish, I learnt, are native to fresh spring waters of Northern and Central Middle East, mainly Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. They are used to treat patients suffering from various skin disorders and also as a cleansing and relaxing form of foot pampering leaving your feet feeling pleasantly exfoliated.

I was a bit apprehensive to give it a go at first –I mean offering your feet to a tub full of squirming flesh eating fishes is not exactly your everyday decision to make is it? But, I, fearsome Xena Princess Warrior (that I imagine myself to be) conquered that fear and I dangled my feet for the fishes nibbling pleasure.

Oh and what a pleasure it truly was! At first it’s quite ticklish and I giggled a lot. Then when I got used to it the sensation was relaxing and soothing like having your feet submerged in a foot spa and caressed by hundreds of tiny bubbles, a kind of fizziness on your feet – it was good:-) I thoroughly recommend this to everyone – unless you have a fish phobia of course! The cost of this fishy foot spa is £8 for 15 mins or £12 for half hour. Prices would vary at different places I guess.

STABLES MARKET

Upon entering Stables Market you are met with a herd of bronze sculpted horses – some standing and some looking as they are crashing through the walls at galloping speed. You can find many of these handsome, full size, bronze horse sculptures scattered around Stables Market and they are really beautiful to see. They serve as a reminder of what the place was originally and horses played a big part in the history of this place.

Apparently, Stables Market occupies the former site of the horse hospital of the Midland Railway and horses that pulled the barges up and down the tow paths of the London canals, were stabled and cared for here.

Now the railways huge arches and viaducts house around 450 retail shops selling everything from vintage clothing, homewares, retro stuff, latest fashion, Punk, Goth and Cybergoth fashions, used books, knick knacks and food – in fact you name it and they probably sell it! It’s an amazing Aladdin's cave or cavern of stuff upon stuff upon stuff – never ending.

I especially loved the all the antiques and books and other old stuff – brought back memories of my childhood. I ended up buying a vintage Lotto game for £3 – great! I never got round to seeing everything here as it can get really tiring traipsing around labyrinth like tunnels - looking, buying, eating. I definitely have to come back here again to explore though – watch this space!

Recent Art

2010-04-01T23:28:00.003+01:00

Just playing around with Flickr Toys to design this mosaic of Art I’ve created recently – Enjoy and please feel free to drop into my Flickr site to view more of my work:-)

CAMDEN TOWN

2010-03-25T17:14:00.001Z

It’s been years since I visited Camden – don’t know why- just the way it is. It’s weird really coz as a Londoner whenever I think of London I always think Covent Garden, Oxford Street, Leicester Square and all those typical London touristy places, yet Camden is still London, albeit, North London, but it’s such a lively, vibrant place to visit.

Colourful buildings, funky fashions

Inviting and iconic shops

The whole retail shopping experience is so different from Oxford Street. Here you’ll find outrageous attire, funky bags and footwear, weird and wonderful accessories, handicrafts and Art – basically original stuff that you wouldn’t be able to normally find in your normal high street store.

Camden Town is such a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities. Here you can sample a diversity of mouth-watering foods, with vendors calling out to you to sample their delicacies and at good prices too. I especially thought the seating was really cool. By the food stands are a row of cut off motorbike seats and it’s these you sit on under a canopy to shield you from rain and eat your meal. I really liked that concept and thought it was a typical Camden Town thing.

Eat your meal on Motorbike seats

As well as a weird and funky feel to Camden, it also has a quaintness and charm all of it’s own. Camden Lock is lovely and you can sit and relax and admire the view of the canal and boats whilst eating or wandering around the Camden Village Market or just sit and people watch – it’s amazing to see so many different people.

View of the Canal

I especially loved the Camden Village Market, it’s retail units are housed in beach hut type buildings, all painted in an eclectic mix of colours and selling a range of things from fashion, jewellery, handbags and accessories to hand crafted goods and artwork. I don’t think there’s anything you can’t find and buy here – it’s brilliant!

Camden Market

Funky shops

Inverness Market

Links: http://www.camdenlock.net/index.html

http://www.camdenlockmarket.com/index.php

http://www.camdenpeople.co.uk/galleries/Camden-Lock-Village-Market-gallery-1844556-detail/gallery.html

Phantom of the Opera

2009-11-08T18:09:00.001Z

Phantom of the Opera leaflet – outside

Phantom of the Opera leaflet – inside

What a show! What an experience! Why has it taken me so long to see this show I just don’t know. I was enthralled from the beginning to the end. I was totally captivated by the music and songs – so much so that whilst writing this I’m listening to the soundtrack:-)

The tickets to this show were a present from my daughter and son-in-law for both myself and my hubby. He enjoyed it just as much as I did. Our tickets were for the Matinee show and it was playing at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Haymarket, London.

Her Majesty’s Theatre

The sets and lighting were so atmospheric - the chandelier was magnificent! The costumes were absolutely stunning – so vivid in colours and sparkling with crystals – it was all so magical.

Her Majesty’s Theatre

One thing that did surprise me was how small the theatre was – not that it made my whole experience any less thrilling or anything like that – it just came as a surprise that’s all. Nonetheless, it’s a lovely old theatre.

Her Majesty’s Theatre by night

Apparently, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera has been playing here since 1986 when the original cast included Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman in the leading roles. That would’ve been something to see!

Here’s more about Her Majesty's Theatre

outside Her Majesty's Theatre

I became so enthralled and captivated by watching the stage and in the story (how could I not?) – it was an emotional rollercoaster and I must admit my eyes welled up and I wept a silent tear – well I’m a big softie at heart and that’s the sign of such brilliant acting and such an amazing production. I would thoroughly recommend this show to anyone and everyone – I loved it!

Love Never Dies – leaflet front & back

The long awaited sequel to The Phantom of the Opera – Love Never Dies – will be showing at the Adelphi Theatre, The Strand, London from March 2010. More info here

POSTCARD BOX

2009-11-05T14:29:00.003Z

This is a postcard box I recently constructed from…. postcards of course:-) This box can be constructed from any picture really so long as the sizes are all the same. You can use:

photographs

handmade cards

cut up greeting cards

magazine images

your own art

You can double up your postcards so that images are inside of the box also, or you can line your postcard or images with plain card as I have done. We are working with landscape images, so it’s best to find images in this orientation – apart from the sides of the box which can have portrait images.

So, basically what you’ll need to make this box are:

supply of postcards/pictures

plain card to back cards

embroidery threads in contrasting colours

pricking tool

soft mat for pricking on

ruler

double sided tape

scissors

embellishments (optional)

top view

Cut all your cards to one size – you’ll need 4 cards landscape size for the back, front, top and bottom of the box and two cards portrait size cut to the same width square. Whether you’re using postcards or plain card to double up, make sure you cut up all your cards to match – so you should end up with 8 landscape size and 4 portrait size cards.

side views

Now pair your main images with their backing images and secure with a little double sided tape to hold together. You should have 6 cards to make one box.

With your card on the pricking mat and using your ruler and pricking tool score a line, lightly - half centimetre away from the edges of the card, so you end up with a half centimetre border all the way around the card. Do this to all the cards.

Now along that light score line prick holes half centimetre apart all the way round the card. Do this to all the cards

front view

Choose a colour of embroidery thread that compliments the shades in your cards and using a simple blanket stitch bind your pairs of cards together – do this to all 6 cards.

back view

Now the constructive part – sewing all the parts to make the box. Starting with the base and making sure you have your main image on the outside, place the back card (your image that will be facing the back) on top of this (main image facing upwards) and with a contrasting thread on your needle, using a whipping stitch go through one blanket stitch on the base card and one blanket stitch on your back card and lash together to secure each card to the other (refer to my pics for reference) .

top & front view

Then taking one of the side cards whip stitch this to the base card and to the back card. Working your way systematically with all the cards, bind them all together and to each other using this whipping stitch. In my pics my blanket stitch is in deep pink and the whipping stitch is in blue.

inside view

After the box has been constructed you can pick out details to embellish – that’s just optional. I’m an embellishment kinda gal and will embellish anything in sight, so if you look at my images you’ll see I’ve used sequins, coins and bead trim to jazz up my box. Do what you want and make amazing boxes! :-)

Art In Clay - Hatfield House

2009-08-09T14:14:00.021+01:00

ART IN CLAY SHOW - HATFIELD HOUSE

It's was the final day of the Art in Clay Show at Hatfield House yesterday (7th - 9th Aug). I went on Friday with various ceramic classes from our Institute. A coach was hired to take around 35-40 of us. It was ony a 45 min journey and the weather was pleasant tho a little overcast. This was the first time I'd been to this particular event - tho' last year I did visit the Living Crafts Show at Hatfield House blogged.

It's more or less the same set up with marquees dotted around the huge field filled with exhibitors displaying their beautiful ceramic works of art they've created.

I must say I really wasn't expecting such a huge and varied array of ceramic ware on display and for sale. I'm not a ceramic artist and though I do attend ceramic classes I go to make tiles and ceramic pieces for my mosaics. I'm not at all into sculpture, tho I can admire the craftsmanship that goes into each piece since I see my fellow students actually make beautiful pieces in class and I know just how much time and effort goes into making them.

To be quite frank I wasn't expecting to spend just as much time looking around all the exhibitors as I did, but I was really amazed at all the lovely work I saw around me - that was such a pleasant surprise:-) My main plan was to whizz round a few exhibitors and then make for the House - that was my main reason for coming on this trip actually and my ceramic tutor Sarah did her utmost to coax me into coming on this trip as I'd initially said no to it. She eventually told me that if I came along and truly didn't like it then she'd refund me my fee - that's how confident she was I'd enjoy it. Thank you Sarah - it seems you know me better than I do myself :-D

I really did enjoy myself!

There were a couple of exhibitors that really caught my eye and were so different from the rest. I've got their kind permission to put pics of their work on here just to share with you and if you want to see more of their work I've included links to their websites.

This is Claire Baker with her exquisite vintage style ceramics she creates. There are cups and saucers and sideplates all chipped and cracked and yet still so beautiful. She told me each piece has to be fired 6 times to achieve the end result. She then applies decals to give that Shabby Chic look.

I just love how Claire arranges her chipped and cracked, vintage style crockery with real vintage cups and saucers and some of her assemblage and other artwork. Everything blends in so well. I told Claire this setting was very reminiscent of Miss Havisham's table in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. If you'd like to see more of her work just go here

Another Exhibitor who really caught my eye and whom I could really relate to was Pollie Utley from Pollie & Garry Utley Ceramics She and Garry make the most exquisite bowls, jewellery, quilts and even garments all out of clay. Each piece is beautifully designed and rich in texture and colour.

I spoke for quite a while with Pollie and she told me that she has been to India many times and her work is inspired by Rajasthani quilts and textiles (amongst other things). She makes the most amazing quilts from blocks of ceramic tiles that she stamps with Indian block stamps to get the texture and she even creates folds in the clay to represent the folds in natural textiles. She adds mirrors (Shisha) and bells and even stitching to give that authentic Indian feel to either a garment or quilt.

I felt I could relate to her through my own ethnicity as well as the art she creates. She's a Ceramic Artist and I'm a Mosaic Artist and my work is very much influenced by Islamic Art and Indian Culture and I'm also attracted to colour and texture in my work. I could've stayed there all day chewing Pollie's ear off about her work and her journeys to various parts of India. I would really encourage you to go onto the website and check out the gallery of work - it'll definitely make an impression on you believe me!

more info on Art in Clay

HATFIELD HOUSE

front and inside of 2009 Visitor Guide - freely available upon request from here

The path to the North Court of the House. The South Court is not open to the public but can be viewed from the Viewing Bay near the wilderness Garden

Hatfield House is still a private residence and has been in the Cecil family for 400 years. It's a beautiful Jacobean house and is steeped in Elizabethan and Victorian history. It houses beautiful treasures like fine tapestries, furniture, ceramics and paintings and the rooms are grand and oranate as expected of a large stately house such as this.

The House stands on over 1000 acres of park and woodlands and it boasts, in the park, an oak tree which marks the place where the young Princess Elizabeth I heard she was going to be Queen.

As part of the Art in Clay Show Hatfield House was running a free shutttle bus to and from the Show (on the parklands) to the House. This would otherwise have been a really long long long walk (you get what I mean don't you?)

You know, without meaning to be disrespectful to the Cecil Family or anyone concerned with Hatfield House, my first impression of this house was, "Is that it?" Maybe it was this view of it from the North Court, but I got the distinct impression of it looking like a giant Victorian factory rather than a stately home - sorry that's just my opinion folks :-) No doubt it was very grand, but even my daughter when she saw a pic of it thought it looked like a prison (at least I was politer in my opinion:-)) But I must add the longer I was there the more it grew on me.

I took the guided tour which lasted about 2 hours and that was really interesting. Unfortunately we weren't permitted to take photos inside the house, but there were postcards available of some of the interiors in the giftshop. The rooms we toured were exquisite - so ornate with decoration and carvings and filled with tapestries, paintings and beautiful antique furniture. I was disappointed, however, in this size house, we could only view a small number of rooms - I guess it's because it's still a family home with a family living in it and wanting some privacy - that's understandable. Sometimes when we become tourists we become a bit selfish and always want more:-)

view of the South Court from the Wilderness Gardens

I can well recommend the guided tour as you gain such an insight into the family history as well as the history of the house. You can, if you're short of time whizz round the house on your own and directions are clearly marked. I bought the Souvenier Guide on the house so that I could continue to read up a little more about it - (I always buy souvenier guides of all the places I visit).

A great way of ending your visit to any place, be it stately home, palace, castle or park is the Gift Shop - one of my favourite places to spend money:-) You can pick up such lovely gifts that you wouldn't normally be able to find in your high street shops. I came away with some lovely giftwrap, some exquisite little notebooks, postcards (of course) and the souvenier guide.

inside the gift shop - a veritable feast for the eyes!

Find out more about Hatfield House here

Stampboard

2009-06-01T15:38:00.005+01:00

Stampboard has been around for quite sometime in the crafting world, though surprisingly there are a lot of people out there who still haven't heard of it - maybe due to low marketing - who knows. When you do discover this product you'll be amazed at what you can do with this little bit of board that has a smooth clay finish to it. I'm not going to gush about its amazing qualities and multi-functional uses - tho I could very easily:-) I'll leave that for you to discover yourself at the end of this, where I've left a couple of links for you to go to and become acquainted with this product yourself.

The top image shows the front of the packaging. I bought this last year at a crafts supply show here in the UK but you can order it online and it's widely available in the USA - where it was brought over from anyway:-)

This is the back of the packet showing you the amazing uses of Stampboard and when you open this up there are more detailed instructions.

These are a few of the shapes that are available: 2" square, 2&1/2" x 1&1/4" rectangle, 2" x 1" rectangle, 2&1/2" diameter circle and 1" square.

Here are a few Stampboard pieces I created

The Eiffel Tower piece I turned into a brooch by simply gluing a brooch finding to the reverse. These have all been given a gloss finish with UTEE. It gives it that laminated finish which I feel really completes the pieces, but that's optional really and to everyones own preference.

Let me give you a short tutorial on how I made these. Greater detail and more info can be had from the links at the end. This was my first time try with Stampboard so I'm no expert, but I loved the results I got with my first attempt at working with this - so if it helps you in anyway I'll be glad:-)

The best ink to use for stamping on this is StazeOn as once dried you can ink and paint over without any smudging plus it gives a lovely crisp image.

Decide on your stamps for the different size Stampboard pieces and then colour the backgrounds with any waterbased ink colour including Marvy colour pens, inkpads, chalks, even silk paints and water colour inks. Use a variety of applications like sponging, painting on and wiping off, scrunching with cling wrap - anything to create a textured background. You can use alcohol ink to great effect on these also and Adirondak ink pads and Tim Holtz Distress inks applied and then sprayed with water give some amazing results - just keep playing around to get different finishes.

Ok, so you've got a bunch of coloured surfaces to stamp on now - so decide on your images and stamp your pieces and allow to dry thoroughly or speed up with a heat gun. Any mistakes in stamping or inking can easily be erased by either using a baby wipe to rub away or I find one of those jumbo nail files or emery boards rubbed over the top erases any mistakes cleanly away.

Once the image is dry using a sharp implement or pointy tool (you can buy specific tools for scratching Stampboard from the link at the end of this) scratch away at parts of the image that you want a different colour. I look at it as colouring in by scratching. But stay within the lines for this, as if you lose the outline it doesn't look as good. So work on a little bit at a time - for example if you want to put highlights into hair scratch away and then fill in colour afterwards.

Once you've scratched away parts now is the time to add colour. I find those water based markers are really good for this as you can just scribble some colour onto a plate or your non-stick mat and then using one of those water fillable paintbrushes just pick up the teensiest bit of colour and apply to where you need to fill in colour. Just be aware at this point you're filling in colour to parts of clay you've scratched away, so the surface will be very porous and the colour will just bleed into thoses areas - so you only need the tiniest amount of colour to get the full effect. Again, any mistakes can be rectified by using a wet cotton bud for small areas or baby wipes for larger areas.

So, now you've painted in all your areas of the image you can further scratch into it to add highlights here and there to give the impression of light hitting it or shining on it. For example, if you've stamped a face and then coloured it flesh colour or whatever, you can scratch into the whites of the eyes and scratch the tiniest dot into the pupil just to give the eyes definition - you'll be amazed at what a difference it makes:-)

You can further scratch squiggles, patterns or whatever you like into the background to give more effect. When you're finally satisfied with all the colouring, scratching and re-scratching you can either choose to leave it as it is and just outline the edges with a Krylon pen or you can edge with versamark and dip into embossing powder to get an embossed edge or you can apply versamark to the whole stampboard piece (I just stamp the whole piece into the Versamark pad) and then cover with UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) and heat with a heat gun and then outline with a Krylon pen to finish. When the UTEE is still molten that's the time you can drop seed beads or sequins or any flat tiny charm into it to embellish your piece. You end up with a highly glossed laminated piece that looks really beautiful.

You can turn these Stampboard pieces into jewellery, embellishments, mini works of art - the skys the limit really. You can even punch holes into stampboard with your Crop-o-Dial - just think what you can do with that - add brads, charms, danglies, threads, stitching - the possibilities are endless!

Look, I've gotta go now as just talking about all this has made me want to play with Stampboard again. Hope this gives you the urge to try Stampboard out for yourselves. I'll catch you next time! :-)

Click here and here for further info

May Bank Holiday - Day trip to Rochester, Kent

2009-05-06T16:36:00.012+01:00

The First May Bank Holiday was from Sat 2nd May to Mon 4th May (the other is 22 - 24 May). I like to make the most of these holidays by planning day trips, sometimes weekends away in the UK. It's a pretty hit and miss affair at times since the weather here in the UK can be kinda unpredictable. But as the forecasters were assuring us of good weather for Sat & Sun at least, I thought why not go for it and plan somewhere nice. I always ask around and research best places to go and since we don't have any kids with us we're spoilt for choice really :-) But it's always a good idea to get first hand experience of places you want to visit from friends and family who've been there before. In this instance for our first day trip I suggested the historic town of Rochester in Kent - The Garden of England. Since my family always depend on me to come up with places -and I've always come up a winner in the past:-) they agreed. I did the research, made our picnic lunch to take with us and set off the next day at around 10.30am.

on the road to Rochester

arriving in Rochester

The weather was beautiful just as forecasted - the sun was shining brightly and it was lovely and warm - summer clothing type weather:-) There were 7 of us in our Toyota Lucida - myself, my hubby, my daughter and her hubby, my daughter's friend and my 2 nephews. The journey to Rochester was very pleasant and we passed through beautiful English countryside - golden fields of rape seed that looked like fields of gold - so Gorgeous. There were so many farmhouses and fields with horses, sheep and cows all out to pasture. There was greenery everywhere and such scenic views. England is full of beauty for those who want to see:-) The journey itself took only 45mins - we didn't need to stop anywhere on the way. Rochester is about 35 miles from where we live in Essex.

Rochester Bridge over The River Medway

I won't bore you all with a history lesson - There's a link at the bottom of this entry that will direct you to a Rochester homepage where you can learn all about this place and believe me it makes for interesting reading. Suffice to say it's a historical town steeped in history and has connections with, amongst many other things and people, Charles Dickens.

Festivities outside Rochester Castle

Rochester Castle admission info

The castle keep (Great rectangular Tower)

We decided to tour around the castle first and as this was a May Day Bank Holiday there were lots festivities taking place around the castle and cathedral. There was a mini funfair with a beautiful carrousel and the usual fairground stands and foodstalls. The place was thronged with people enjoying the glorious sunshine and entertaiment. The castle was built between 1087 & 1089 with the Keep being added later in about 1127. Now it's a crumbling shell of it's once splendid glory - still beautiful nonetheless. We climbed the 209 uneven steps to the top of the castle for some spectacular views of Rochester Cathedral, The River Medway and surrounding areas - the views were quite stunning as you can see for yourself.

view of Rochester Cathedral from top of the Castle

View of Rochester Bridge over the River Medway from top of the Castle

view of Rochester from top of the Castle

Keep & curtain wall from the Southeast

Keep & castle wall from the east

After touring the castle we walked the short distance to Rochester Cathedral. This was free admission for individuals and a slight charge for group tours (again you can get details from the link at the end of this entry). If the Castle was impressive then the Cathedral was truly magnificent!

May Day festivities around the cathedral

River Dancing outside the cathedral

The earliest part of this Cathedral dates back to 1083 when work first began on a new Norman cathedral. I felt so much peace and serenity in this building - it is truly beautiful. The Romanesque and Medieval architecture are something to be admired and studied and the monolithic organ, put up by Gilbert Scott in the1870's, is simply breathtaking.

Gilbert Scott Organ

looking across the Nave Altar to the Pulpitum steps

The Nave

Rochester Cathedral

The Quire

Beautiful stained glass window

I'd love to go back to Rochester - as we never roamed around the cobbled streets and in and out of the quaint shops they have there. Just remember to wear comfortable shoes as you'll no doubt do a lot of walking - we certainly did:-) I would definitely recommend Rochester as a place well worth visiting for the overseas tourist as well as UK resident. It has a wealth of historical landmarks and such beautiful scenic views to offer - you really can't go wrong! I hope you enjoyed your visit through my eyes:-)

Like what you've heard and want to visit Rochester for yourself? - There you go!

BSSBS - Ally Pally

2009-04-21T15:49:00.007+01:00

The Big Stamping & ScrapBooking Show came round again this Spring, at the Alexandra Palace in North London on Saturday 18th & Sunday 19th April 2009. Naturally I went - with my friends Amanda & Lyn. The day was a glorious sunny one and this year in spite of the so-called credit crunch, people were out in their throngs (I said throngs not thongs!). The show was really packed and only one thing annoyed me and that was that there was no fresh air circulating around in the hall. With the crowded mass of people it was really suffocating and sooo hot. I don't know when the organisers are gonna ever learn that a cool shopper is a happy shopper and will gladly spend more time and money if they are in a well vented space rather than being boiled alive and feeling hot and sweaty, carrying overladen bags and getting irritated and short tempered by the minute - that's what getting overheated does to you! Anyway, I soldiered on from stand to stand, watching one great demo after another and buying delicious crafting goodies left right and centre:-)

My one major purchase of the day was the Cuttlebug embossing and cutting machine. I'd heard so much about it and seen some beautiful embossed samples, tho' I'd never seen it demo'd before. So this time I watched while the sales person showed me the amazing things this wonderful machine does and I was sold right away on it. They had a special offer whereby you could choose a free embossing plate to go with it and I chose a really pretty paisley one. You also get two cutting plates included in the box - so that's really cool:-) I haven't had a chance to play with it yet but am looking forward to it.

At lunch time we went outside and sat on the grass and ate our packed lunches whilst admiring the whole of London spread out below us. For those of you who are not familiar with Alexandra Palace (fondly known to londoners as Ally Pally)here is a link. There was a slight haze over the city even tho the skies were sunny and clear, but it cleared up later.

view of Canary Wharf from Ally Pally - slightly hazy

The show went on till 5pm on Saturday and as usual there was an ATC Trading Post for those who wanted to meet up for live ATC trades. I met some really lovely ladies and we traded and chatted with one another, all the while admiring each others cards. I received some really beautiful cards in exchange for mine.

So, now the next BSSBS is the Autumn one in September. Each year I say I won't go as I've already spent enough in the Spring show, but I'm a sucker for these shows and we crafters are such a friendly lot - how can I resist? :-)

Altered Photographs

2009-04-16T14:24:00.015+01:00

altered tree photo

altered Smokey - he was sitting on the grass. I sanded all the background and painted it, then outlined his body with an awl and scratched into his fur and painted into it.

I bought a book recently Complete Guide to Altered Imagery by Karen Michael. It's a great book filled with so many techniques for altering photographs, magazine images, for creating transfer images and how to alter digital images. It's packed with techniques and steps to show you how to create some amazing art from your own photos. So I decided to have a little play around with some of my lesser pics - blurred images, over developed shots, generally naff photos that I wouldn't put in an album really. I just followed the tutorials in the book and I was amazed at the results. See for yourself!

In this picture you can see I've started to alter the top image by scratching around

our bodies to highlight our outlines. This photo was over exposed so it has a nice

red/orange colour for me to use as a base to layer some other colours over the top.

This is a photograph of a bridge over the River Avon I took when

visiting Stratford-upon-Avon (UK). I wasn't happy with the quality

of the photo, so I decided to alter it. The top photo is the unaltered image

and the photo underneath shows the same photo after transformation.

The technique for altering photos are quite simple really and most of the materials you need are basic household stuff you probably have already:

domestic bleach poured into a shallow tray container and a tray container of cold water
protective gloves
an awl or sharp instrument for scratching into the surface of the photo
fine sandpaper
white gesso
flat brush
water soluble crayons/water colour paints
permanent black marker pen
paper towels
and most important of all some photos you want to alter.

I just normally pick out the naff, out of focus, obscured, head cut off, feet cut off, over exposed photos - but there's nothing to stop you using good photos just to highlight and alter to make more interesting - these are especially good to use in your art journals:-) By the way, we're talking of proper photographs on proper photo paper, not magazine images or postcards:-)

A sheltered wooden structure by the banks of the River

Avon. The top image shows the badly developed

photo. The bottom picture shows the same pic

after being altered - so much more interesting

don't you think?

Okay, so now you've got everything ready (oh make sure you cover your work surface).

dunk your photo (one at a time) into the bleach solution for about 30secs - 1 min ( I noticed
that matt images take about a minute to soften whilst the glossy photos soften in about 30secs).
Remove the photo from the bleach solution and put into the water solution to rinse quickly.
Sand your photo lightly to remove the shiny top surface and then apply a light coat of gesso, making sure you can still see the image beneath.
When the gesso is dry scratch around the outlines of any shapes you can see to highlight
lightly sand the background to create more texture
Using the water soluble crayons or watercolour paints - paint in areas of your photo to alter it and when dry you can further add more scratchings and sandings to paint over to create depth and layers - stop when you're happy and leave to dry:-)

These are just the basics for altering a photograph. There's so much more you can do to enhance, alter and digitally recreate your photographs and images - but you'll have to buy the book to learn more won't you? :-)

Altered image of ME!

An altered duck on the Altered River Avon

2009-03-15T15:32:00.001Z

Make a Smilebox postcard

Mini Book Swap

2009-03-12T09:46:00.004Z

handmade papers & bank note book

This is the bank note book I received from Simon in our mini book swap. He makes amazing books and glorious handmade papers. Simon has made a series of mini pamphlet-stitched books using old, withdrawn from circulation, bank notes, as covers - ingenious idea!

my handmade mini books - can you guess which
one I swapped with Simon?

To view more of his work and see the book I sent him go to
Paper Curious

Postcard of India 1 - My Very First Smilebox Postcard Creation

2009-03-11T18:33:00.001Z

Make a Smilebox postcard

It's Been Too Long

2008-12-01T13:41:00.006Z

I've been away from Blogland too long and feel so bad. I shouldn't really as I have been getting on with life - everyday day things that need to be done - family stuff that needs to be nurtured and awarded more quality time than other things - and yes that includes blogging:-) Then are other commitments, deadlines to meet, creative projects that have been filed under "Procrastination" - (yes with a capital P) - for too long! Watching TV - yes I actually enjoy doing that:-) and just stuff in general. But at the back of it all there has been the guilt slowly simmering away, nudging at the core of me, niggling and eating away, reminding me that I've been neglecting this commitment (and yes in a way it is a commitment from when you first start a blog) and that I've been away too long and should get back. So here I am again folks - back on my blog page ready to share so much with you all.

In fact there has been a lot of things I've wanted to share with you guys projects I've been involved with, swaps, creative stuff as well as life stuff like shows I've seen and exhibitions I've attended. So, hop on board and buckle up and we'll go for a ride through my life........... well not quite but you know what I mean I'm sure:-)As this would be an absurdly lengthy post if I were to fit in all that I've seen and done since my absence, I think it more fitting to back track a little and start with some of the shows I've seen.

Hairspray leaflet Hairspray Ticket

poster for Hairspray

Last month my daughter Meena and I went to see "Hairspray" the Musical on stage at The Shaftsbury Theatre, Holborn. I was familiar with the story since I'd seen the John Travolta film - which I loved and became familiar with the songs too, which were so unbelievably catchy (that I find myself still singing and humming them!). I haven’t seen the original film starring Rikki Lake – must get round to that!

The Shaftsbury Theatre, Shaftsbury Ave, Holborn London

A beautiful Old Theatre

Hairspray The Musical

Anyway, all I can say was that we were just blown away with the sheer vitality of the show – the performance, the stage settings, the songs – everything was just so OTT and corny and yet so exhilarating and entertaining. I couldn’t stop bouncing in my seat and singing along to the songs (I’m sure much to the exasperation my neighbouring seatholders!) Well I was having a grand old time and that’s what you go to the theatre for isn’t it?

Interior of the Shaftsbury Theatre - Box seats and Circle

Box seats in Shaftsbury Theatre

I would really recommend this show if you’re feeling kinda low or want to have a good night out with the girls – it really is a feel good production and I defy anyone not to come out of there uplifted and happy:-)

We enjoyed the show immensely (as you can tell:-)) and I’d go back to watch it again given half the chance. As it is, I continually to catch the film on TV and have to watch it each time. I will be buying the soundtrack on CD and the film on DVD. But for those of you unfamiliar with any of the songs you can catch them on YouTube.

Hairspray - It is what it claims to be!

Playing Catch Up - Ramadan & New Blog Banner

2008-09-18T12:03:00.010+01:00

I feel so guilty for not having checked in any sooner. I've left it a whole month before coming back here and yet I've had a whole load of stuff that I wanted to post and share but somehow time evaded me and the routine of daily life was always there. On top of which it's our holy month of Ramadan and we're busy with fasting and devotional prayers take up most of the day.

We fast from dawn till sunset, where we can't eat or drink anything. Fasting has been prescribed by God for all Muslims in order for us to attain piety and to make us thankful for all that He's given us and believe me when one refrains from eating and drinking all day for so many hours and then it's time to break your fast - a glass of water has never tasted so sweet:-) It makes us empathise with the millions of people in the world who don't even get clean water to drink, who are starving and dying everyday through lack of food and water. It really puts things in perspective for us and we become sober at the thought of it and we devote our time praying and reading the Quran so that we can gain more knowledge and do charitable deeds and give alms to help needy people.

So, this is going to last 30 days (Ramadan started 1st Sept) and at then end we celebrate with Eid, which is our festival (the nearest I can describe it to is Christmas) - where families gather together and eat, drink (not alcohol), wear new clothes, exchange gifts and generally celebrate the end of the fasting month.

I've been kinda quiet on the Art front aswell during Ramadan but have been busy making Eid cards for all my relatives and friends. I gotta do a little Art everyday otherwise I feel something is missing from my life:-)

By the way... have you seen my new blog banner? How can you have failed to notice it when it's right there blinging in your face:-) Isn't it just so beautiful? Well sorry to blow my own trumpet but I think it is and I defy you to say any different;-) I had it personally designed for me by Shabby Cottage Studio's very own Gail Schmidt. We liaised together (yes we did!) for a few days in order to get the elements and look of the banner just right and Gail was so helpful and friendly, giving me advice night and day on how to get my banner just right. My banner showcases some of my Art from mosaics to ATCs. I wanted it to reflect my personality and love of colours and I think Gail has managed to capture exactly that. Oh and by the way, that lovely red chandelier swinging from the centre is my very own which hangs as a pair in my lounge - I just had to include that because it's my most fave colour RED! Along with the newly designed banner I've changed the name one last time to suit ME. Don't worry won't be changing it again:-) So a very BIG Thank you to Gail for all your help with my new blog banner and if anyone out there in Blogland is stuck for ideas go visit Gail she'll help you all the way:-D

Well, as they say, tomorrow is another day and I will hopefully offer up another post - I want to really I do!

FELT-MAKING DAY

2008-08-09T13:47:00.007+01:00

I've never made felt before but have always wanted to try my hand at it and although there are some great books on the market showing you step by step photos of what you need and how to actually felt, I'm the sort of person who learns better from guidance and tuition. If someone's there in front of me demonstrating the technique (whatever it may be) then I learn better.

So, a couple of weeks ago, my good friend Amanda announced that she and her daughter Hannah were holding a felt-making class at their place and they'd invited a couple of their friends who are long time felters to come along and teach us some techniques.

These are some of the materials needed to get started.

These skeins of wool are called wool tops and that's the basic

material to make felt. you can then add various fibres to

enhance your felted piece.

We started by choosing the colours we wanted to work with - there would be 3 layers in this first flat piece of felt we were making. I chose a bright fuschia pink wool top and Amanda had real alpaca hair in soft creams and browns and I chose the cream as my middle layer. The middle layer doesn't show - well it did in our case - read on to find out!!

We began by laying a tea towel onto our work surface and then laying a sheet of bubble wrap on top. Then we gently teased the wool tops into strands that we laid across the bubble wrap - we worked to whatever size we wanted but at the same time had to take into account that this would shrink by about a third by the time we got to felting it. So, basically whatever you decide to make initially, the overall size you start with will considerably shrink at the end of the process.

So, you have a first layer - for which I used the fuscia pink wool top, a middle layer - for which I used the alpaca hair, and then the third layer - which I used the pink again. After the third layer this is the time you can play around with your fibres or other colour wool tops to create a design on top. I laid some different colours and some fibres till I was happy with the design and then laid a piece of net (like net curtain material) over the top - this was to keep everything in place.

teasing of the wool tops and laying them into 3 layers.

laying the final design layer of fibres and wool

Now came the messy bit - we sprinkled hot water over the entire surface of our piece and with with a scrunched up plastic bag we scrubbed gently in circular motions at the net to meld the fibres together. We also rubbed soap over the net to create some lather and then scrubbed over the net making sure we were working into all the fibres. We made sure to scrub the other side too.

scrubbing away at the wool and checking to see if the fibres have felted.

After a few minutes we checked to see whether the fibres had all felted together and when we were satisfied that they were, we removed the net and then put our felted piece along with bubble wrap onto a bamboo mat and put that on top of the tea-towel and then rolled the whole thing up and this is where the hard work of shrinking the felt began. We rolled and rolled and rolled. We were told that rolling the felted piece about 100 times each way was a good method to ensure an evenly shaped and shrunk piece. So once I'd rolled it 100 times one way, I carefully unrolled it all and turned it round the otherway and rolled it back again and worked on it more. You basically stopped when you were happy with the size.

rolling rolling rolling, shrinking shrinking shrinking

This is my felted and shrunk piece of felt - oh the joy! Look at all the yummy colours!

So, that folks, was my first attempt at felting and I can't tell you how pleased I felt - ok, ok, that's corny I know, but I just couldn't help myself :-O But seriously though, I was really pleased with what I made and after letting it dry naturally in the sun I folded it into a purse and it looked really good - see for yourselves.............

all I have to do is sew it up and add a nice big button in the middle

We then went on to felt a 3D piece and I decided to make a vase. Making a 3D form is slightly more technical in that you have to make careful measurements and make a plastic template to work onto. I followed the same technique for felting the first piece, except this time I had to work both sides onto the template. Once all the fibres had felted over the plastic template, I cut a slit at the top and pulled out the template. This left me with a bag form which I had to shrink down considerably so that the jar (I was using as mould) could slip inside. Then I had to further shrink and mould the felted bag around the glass jar. It was amazing how it shrank before my eyes and fitted the jar perfectly and I folded and shaped a rim that turned over so that the inner colour of the vase was displayed.

One lesson Amanda and I learnt was that alpaca hair though lovely and soft to start with, becomes very coarse when felted and actually comes through the layers to create a hairy whatever you've made and not only that, it actually moults like an animal and gets everywhere! I know I shan't be using that material in my felting again - unless I want to create a felted alpaca! :-O

My hairy felted vase. I actually had to give this a hair cut - the alpaca hair was just moulting so badly. It also dulls the colour of the wool - this was meant to be bright red with ochre and olive designs in but the alpaca dilutes the colour and it's hairyness takes over :-D By the way, the glass jar is inside so I can fill it with water and arrange flowers inside.

Here endeth our lesson in felt-making :-)

Double-sided Frame Book

2008-08-07T14:53:00.006+01:00

This is a book I started at my bookmaking class run by our expert teacher Annalise. It took us over the course of two classses as well as working on at home to make. It measures 10cm x 8cm on it's outer frame and 7.5cm x 5.5cm on it's inside frame. There are 9 frames back to back, making 18 frames in total.

This is the front of the book when closed. You can see the folds of mull

on the edges. I laid a torso covered in red raw silk on top of red

glittery mesh and embellished with sequins and rhinetsones.

The frames were cut from grey board (which is basically just a denser quality cardboard). This is where precise meauring and a sharp cutting blade came into play. Once all the frames were cut I covered each one with a decorative paper - in this case Annalise had kindly given us a selection of papers to use including this precious one from Venice which depicted the drawings of Leornado Da Vinci - it has drawings and script on and is quite beautiful. Covering these frames was a laborious task but once I started I just got into production line mode and a logical order to things just took over.

After covering the boards the next step took place in class and that was sandwiching the chosen material between the pairs of frames. There is a wide choice of materials that would be suitable for this, but I wouldn't recommend paper as you have to take into account the folding and opening action of this book and the wear and tear it's going to take. So a material that is flexible as well as long standing is better. You could use, mesh, net, wire mesh, calico, hessian, muslin, acetate, vellum just to mention a few. In this instance we chose mull, which a is bookbinders material - used to strengthen covers of books before the actual book cover goes on. It's a very fine mesh and is quite stiff yet soft and has the added advantage of being sheer.

This is the back of the book when closed. I made the blue

ceramic buttons from paperclay which is then fired

and becomes like porcelain.

Before we could glue our frames onto the mull we had to make ourselves spacers to put between each row and column of frames - for this we simply cut long, thin strips of card o.5cm in width, and lay them in between the rows and columns of frames. This would give the grid layout, prevent the frames from touching each other and would provide the folds when closing this book.

Now came the tricky part and that was glueing the mull to the frames. You could either work across or down and after gluing the first frame right to the edge of the mull, another frame had to be glued underneath to match it, thereby sandwiching the mull between them. This is when the spacers came into play - one spacer had to be laid horizontally under the frane and the other vertically by the frame - this would give you the position to lay your next frame in a grid formation. After laying the first pair of frames and spacers everything else just fell into place.

This is the front of the frame book open - the red torso

in the top left hand corner is the cover when closed.

You can see where the two cuts in the mull are that

provide the opening and folding of the book.

I actually made a mistake in trimming the excess mull

when the book was closed, which is why you see an

open channel. There is only meant to be a cut at

the top and bottom so that when you view the open

book the material appears as a whole piece with

only slits at the top and bottom. I'll remember next time:-)

After all the frames were glued with the mull sandwiched between them it was left to dry thoroughly before the fun part of embellishing the mull could be done. At this stage you could coordinate a theme according to whatever print or pattern your frames are covered in - for instance, I had a Leorando Da Vinci print on my frames, therefore I could've run with that theme on my frames and portray each frame with an image and words relating to that. In this case I decided not to and just made each one different.

This is the back of the book open. The bottom left corner

with the blue buttons is the back cover of the book when closed.

It was like creating a whole load of ATCs really - that's the way it felt when I was creating each one. It also occured to me that you could indeed create framed ATCs like this but separate not attached or if you did attach them in pairs or three's they'd be diptychs or triptychs. The possibilities of making this framed book and altering into something else is quite exciting and I shall be playing with those possibilities and sharing them with you all as I progress - so watch this space folks!

FOREST GATE STREET FESTIVAL

2008-07-29T17:10:00.009+01:00

Every year around the third week in July, Forest Gate, in the East End of London, holds it's annual Street Festival. They close a street down to traffic from 9am-7pm and pre-booked stall holders set up their stalls and wares on the pavement, outside a pre-specified house number. I've been selling at this festival for a few years now and the atmosphere is really great. You get to meet such friendly people and sell them stuff in return.

My colourful stall set up and all ready to sell sell sell!

However, there was a noticeable void in the festival this year and that was the absence of any street entertainment. In the past there have been Indian dhol players beating rhythmically on their drums, theatrically costumed street dancers in all their finery gyrating down the length of the street, stilt walkers dressed up as comical Elvis Presley and police constables, snake charmers, belly dancers and singers. This year they had none of that and only had a marquee put up for some singing talents. It was really disppointing and when asked why the absence of all the entertainment, the organisers replied that it was due to cutback in funding. That's so unfortunate and disappointing as the street entertainment really used to liven things up.

A colourful display of all my stuff for sale - mosaics,

decorative tin cans, handmade journals, handmade cards,

Indian beaded/embroidered bags and box frames.

Some of my mosaic plaques. I make the ceramic letters out of clay and then they go in for bisque firing, after which I glaze and put chipping of glass and glass beads on top and it's sent back to the kiln. When my letter have come out the glass has fused into the glaze which intensifies the colours beautifully.

Well, the day started off cloudy and overcast with the threat of rain and sure enough by the time we'd set up and arranged everything just so, down came a torrent of rain and we all desperately clamoured about covering everything with sheets of tarpaulin. Thankfully the rain didn't last long and out came the sun and with it hoardes of potential buyers.

I had a team of little helpers with me, namely my nieces and they were quite the little sales people, walking up and down the street with baskets of my handmade cards and journals, encouraging people to buy these beautiful items - and guess what? - they did! :-) All in all, I ended up doing very well and was pleased with what I'd sold and made.

Yours Truly desperately trying to hold my decorative tin cans down, before a big puff of wind blows it al down!

Selling your handmade items is naturally very important at any kind of fair or venue, but equally important is getting yourself out there and meeting people and talking about your art/work and promoting not only yourself but your work also. That's why I hand out my Moo cards - coz you never know when someone will remember your work and will contact you to have something made especially. I did get an order for a mosaic door number - which although small fry compared to the big commissions I've done, are still just as important as your contact is one to one with your client and how well you produce that piece for them, will reflect on future word of mouth business.

Art in a Carton & Shaving Foam

2008-07-07T01:49:00.007+01:00

This is the latest Art in a Carton I received from Jan. The carton itself was beautifully decorated and I can't begin to describe the treasures it contained inside. Jan was most generous in her gifts and each one was made exquisitely. There was a fabric summer sandal bookmark containing a paper parasol at the back in a specially made pouch. It was made in hot summery colours and is such an original gift. I've never seen anything like this before and consider myself very fortunate to have received it. Then there were some hand moulded papers in various designs, a beautiful little handmade book with folded pages that pop up when you untie the ribbon and open it, a gorgeous charm with a vintage image and a fabric beaded square with a vintage image printed on to it.

All the gifts were handmade by Jan and you could feel the love and care she'd put into creating each piece - Thank you Jan! :-) This project has been such fun to participate in and I've received some wonderful pieces of Art created by some very talented people.

MARBLED PAPER USING THE SHAVING FOAM TECHNIQUE

I visited my local craft store over the weekend and they were demonstrating this new method of marbling paper (well by new method, I mean relatively new method - not everyone's heard of it). Anyway, I watched the demo and then had a go and do you know what? I didn't have to even buy anything to get started at home - well, no, actually I did and that was just the shaving foam - but hey sometimes you might have that in your home already.

So, I got home and got out the necessary materials (shown above). All you need are:

some scraps of card or paper (works best on card or watercolour paper)
selection of inks, paints, shimmer sprays
kitchen roll and baby wipes on hand for cleaning up
a container (size depends on what size paper you're going to marbleize) I used those plastic containers they give you when you get a takeaway.
can of shaving foam - (cheapest will do)
sticks for mixing and marbling

You'll need to protect your work area with clean paper and then keep your pieces of card or paper ready to marble.

all the materials you need to create wonderful marbled pieces

Give the can of shaving foam a good shake before squirting generously into your container, filling it approximately a third full.

shaving foam coloured with inks, paints and glimmer sprays

With your stick comb it through the foam to settle it a bit and now here comes the fun bit - add the colour drop at a time on top of the foam. It's best to keep it to a max of 3 colours at any one time or you'll end up with a murky mess.

Comb your stick through the foam distributing the colour into a pleasing pattern (this is where you use your own discretion and eye)

Take your piece of card or paper and lay on top of the coloured foam and push and rub the card or paper slightly to pick up the colour - lift carefully with your fingers or tweezers.

At this point the card will look a mess all covered in foam and murky colours, but don't worry! It's only when you scrape off the excess foam onto the side of your container and then with a dry wipe or cloth, wipe the rest of the card.

What you see before you will be a gorgeously marbled card with streaks of ink, paints or shimmer (depending on what you've used). Leave this card aside to dry and move onto your next piece.

You don't have to keep adding colour each time you marble your card - just use your stick to create different patterns in the foam and lay your card in. You can add fresh colours to the same foam and spray in glimmer sprays and create swirly patterns in the foam and then lay your card on top and press and lift to see what wonderful marble designs you can create. Believe me no two designs will ever be the same!

Now for the science.... The foam acts like a carrier for the paints or inks - so, basically the foam wipes off and the colour remains on the card - clever huh?

You can further enhance these marbled cards by spritzing over with glimmer sprays or just keeping them as they are and use them as ATC backgrounds, for greeting cards or any host of crafting projects.

This is a really fun technique to do with kids as they'll enjoy them tremendously trying to out do each other to see who can create the best marbled designs. It's very enjoyable and is suitable for even the youngest of kids. Just make sure you have plenty of wipes on hand as it can get very messy :-)

MOSAICS, CERAMICS & GLASS FUSING

2008-06-23T13:38:00.005+01:00

MOSAICS - ALLAH PLAQUES
These are the latest two plaques commissioned for a friend's sister in Chicago. The ceramic lettering on this plaque says "Allah" which means God in Arabic. These plaques are 13 inches in diameter and are made on a 1/2inch thick plywood base.

I make the letters from clay. The process is slightly lengthy in that I roll out the clay into slabs and then roll a plastic textured mat over the top to give a deep etched pattern and texture to the clay. I then score out the letters from templates I've made, after which I have to wait for the clay to harden a little in order for me to cut the letters out. The next step is the bisque firing and after they've come out the kiln I glaze the letters and put chippings of glass on top as well as glass beads. This is then re-fired under glaze settings and the end result is that the glass fuses into the glaze to give it a deeper intensity and adds a decorative effect.

The lettering in this is made using a black clay, glazed in transparent and fused with blue and white millefiori beads. The background mosaic is worked in broken white irridescent china with blue millefiori randomly dotted around. The edging is a blue that contrasts with the blue in the lettering. The mosaic is grouted in brown and dries to a neutral shade. I've applied a textured paste to the edges of the plaque and when dried, painted it with a matching shade of blue. It's completed with a hanging fixture at the back.

I've used a white clay for this lettering and glazed it in Emerald Green and fused it with green millefiori . The background mosaic is worked in two shades of pale green vitreous tiles with random green millefiori dotted about. I've run a border of broken green and white china around this and then finished off with a border of another two shades of whole green vitreous tiles. I've grouted the mosaic in brown which dries to quite a neutral shade and I've applied a coat of textured paste to the edges of the plaque and when dried, I painted it green to match the mosaic and attached a fixing to the back for hanging.

GLASS FUSING

I made these glass fused pieces many years ago and have a good collection which I house in these compartmented boxes that have glass lids to them. I aim to use them in my mosaics (I've been saying that for ages!).

I've fused stained glass onto clear glass and nuggets, beads, thin glass rods, glass sweets, millefiori, glass nuggets, broken glass bottles, glass frit, and many more things - so long as one glass bit is compatible with the other glass bit you're going to fuse it onto then it'll work and if you put uncompatible pieces together - well sometimes the results pleasantly surprise you and other times you have to live and learn!

I just love the way they all look displayed togther in the boxes. I feel like a magpie collecting these pretty things:-)

CERAMIC PIECES

These are just little trial pieces I made when I was experimenting with fusing glass into ceramic. I gouged out little channels of design into the clay while it was still soft and pliable and then it went in for bisque firing. I then applied glaze to the pieces and began to fill in all the grooves with tiny shards of glass - almost powdered. Then it went in for the final firing and the glass all fused into the glaze perfectly, but you can see from these results I didn't quite fill up the channels sufficiently as the glass should've levelled out. Nonetheless I'm happy with the results and I've learnt a lesson for my next attempt:-)

Bookmaking & Travelling Journal

2008-06-21T17:19:00.012+01:00

BOOKMAKING
I go to Bookmaking classes every Monday evening. They're run by a really nice lady called Annalise, from New Zealand. She's a professional bookbinder with 15 years experience behind her. Her classes are run from home and it' a very relaxed and informal atmosphere. There are 5 of us in attendance - myself, my sis-in-law, Uzma, 2 of my mosaic buddies, Amanda & Lyn and , a lovely Chinese lady called Terry - we're a good multicultural bunch!

I started this class at the beginning of this year and have made quite a few books in a number of styles and in the process have learnt many interesting techniques. Annalise always gives us printed notes at the end of each new technique and book that we make, so we get to keep the tutorials so that we can practice at home.

These two books above are album type books with hard covers. The music score book has a stab binding and the red bookcloth book is a very simple 2 hole sewn book attached with buttons for decorative effect. These are great as travel journals or even photo albums.

Even if we repeat a style of book, it will always be different in cover design and materials. Besides which, repeating a technique is good for us as some books have a longer process to construct and therefore practice makes perfect (well... that's the idea anyway!)

This is a slimline Tab Book in an accordian style - it has pleated pages with tabs attached to each pleat. It's very easy to make and very different from what we think of as an ordinary book with pages. This is a more decorative book - great as a personalized gift for someone as you can personalize it according to their tastes or hobbies etc. In this instance I made this one for myself and themed it according to my fave colour - can you guess what that could be? - DUH! Yeah ok, it's RED! I titled it "If I was RED I Would Be..." and inside on the tabs I've listed all the things that I associate with the colour RED - such as a red red rose, bright red lipstick, sexy red Ferrari etc. (click on the pic for a closer view). This was great fun to construct and I plan to make more for friends and family (ssshhh... when I get the time!)

The classes last 2 hours from 7.30 -9.30pm and Annalise's place is quite local to most of us, so the travelling's not too bad and some of us car share. For a very reasonable weekly fee Annalise provides all the materials and equipment and shares her vast knowledge of bookmaking skills with us, explaining to us and demonstrating step by step. She makes the same book along side us so that we don't get lost in the process. If we do get stuck, tangled, glued, or behind she is always there quick on the draw to ease the way and we breathe a sigh of relief when it's all sorted out.

This is another accordian style slimline book with 3 pleats (6 pages). The pages are wider and have a slot where another accordian runs through it. I used an old map to lend some interest and to coordinate with the cover, which is hardbound. Again, this style of book is more decorative than functional but can be personalized to suit any theme or anyone. It's also very good for journalling - which is what I'll use mine for:-)

We all leave the class feeling good and having accomplished something creative, practical and unique. On top of which we've had a thoroughly enjoyable time and come home with a book that we've made ourselves from scratch!

TRAVELLING JOURNAL

I'm a member of a Yahoo group called Travelling Journals. This is a group that encourages you to either start off or take part in a collaborative journal. These journals can travel within a country or all over the world and can be tracked back at the Group site. The owner of the journal sets the theme and starts off a few pages to get the ball rolling and leaves instructions in the journal with a return address should it ever get lost and a sign up database on the site. Then the participents who've signed up for the journal wait their turn for the journal to get to them. A reasonable amount of time to work in the journal is set by the owner and sometimes there are delays, but things can be settled mutually and with understanding.

I've participated in quite a few travelling journals, 1000 Journals being the biggest and most popular as well as 1001 Journals. Then there have been the private journals signed up on Yahoo groups. The groups contain a database where you sign up and keep log of the journal, so at a glance others can see where the journal is in line and how much longer they have to wait. In the meantime people who've completed their pages and have mailed it to the next in line scan their pages in and upload them to the Group album where the other signees can have a sneak preview.

The journal I recently participated in was titled "A Day in the life of..." and participants were asked to journal a day in their life either in pictures, words or both. The day could be an imaginary one or a realistic/typical one. I chose the latter and took photos of things I do during a typical day, like waking up, brushing my teeth, having breakfast, checking my email etc etc. Then I just collaged and journalled and decorated the page artistically. Here are my pages - I did 5 double page spreads.

Okay, so this is the front cover of the Travelling Journal entitled "A Day in the Life of..." The cover was designed by the owner of this journal and this was a foreign text book - so not only is it a journal but it's also an altered book.

This is the first double page spread - pretty basic I think - what most people do first thing in the morning. I've added artwork to the pages.

This is my second double page spread showing the daily routine of my life.

Third double page spread - more details about my day!

Fourth double page spread I decided to make a little gift for the owner of this journal and included it in my page. I added stickers and embellishments to liven up my layout.

Fifth and final double page spread - by this time I'd condensed my day right down to the basics, otherwise I'm sure I could've completed the whole book!!

I really enjoy taking part in these collaborative journals - a little bit of me goes out there and I'm sharing my life with people I haven't met physically, but people I know through the group and it feels good - especially when you get great feedback from them, telling you how much they enjoyed what you had to say and how they loved your layouts and design. It gives you the warm and fuzzies you know?

Strangely enough I've never started off a journal of my own and sent it out into the wide blue yonder - I've though of it many times tho' and do have every intention to do it, I even have great titles and themes planned - it's just the getting started bit that's always the hardest (as with anything - procrastination is a great enemy of action) - and you can quote me on that if you want:-)

Living Crafts 2008 at Hatfield

2008-05-28T14:12:00.013+01:00

I'm kinda late posting this entry since this event I'm blogging about took place last month. But since this is my Blog and there are no rules or expiry dates or any restrictions whatsoever, I'll just go ahead and recount the day for you, my readers :-)

The Living Crafts 2008 Fair took place in the first week of May and I went on the first day with my friends Amanda and Sharon. The weather was beautiful, though a bit blustery - but at least the sun was out in full force and the setting was beautiful. The fair took place on the 1000 acre country estate of Hatfield House, the home of the 7th Marquess of Salisbury.

Hatfield House is a Jacobean House completed in 1611. It was the childhood home of Elizabeth I. The Living Crafts Show takes place on the estate of Hatfield House each year and this is the first time I'd been. The House is open to the public, but we just didn't have enough time to take a tour, as there was so much to see on the grounds.

There were white marquees dotted about everywhere and inside them we found stands with exhibitors displaying traditional arts and crafts such as willow weaving, quilting, felting, raku firing, pottery making, traditional wood crafts, jewellery making, blacksmith, cider making and so much more. There were also plenty of food stalls selling home made cheese, pickles, chutneys and cordials.

This was one of the Blacksmiths stand that specialized in wrought iron signs, sculptures and decorative plaques etc. Their work was highly skilled and very attractive.

This reindeer and horse sculpture was made entirely from horseshoes. I thought it very innovative and I really liked them.

This guy was walking around with a very handsome Eagle Owl

Old steam engine

This Donkey's name was Humphrey. He was a working donkey and wore a yoke around his neck and walked round and round an apple press to make fresh cider.

This was such a delightful, musical, whimsical, watery display that made up this orchestra of copper frogs, snails, butterflies and dragonflies. There was band music coming from speakers within the display and water was spurting out from pipes.

This really was a motley crew of comical creatures, but the concept was brilliant and it was a visual and auditory wonder of delights. Evidently this could be hired out for occasions.

This old Oak tree was just magnificent and I couldn't resist taking a picture of it. Infact there were other people who must've been equally impressed by it as I saw them taking pics as well.

All in all we had a lovely day out. I ended up buying olives, garlic and sundried tomatoes in olive oil from the olive man, home-made elderflower cordial and lemon grass & lime cordial from the juice stand, I made glazed a pot and had it raku fired, tried my hand at willow weaving, chatted to countless, friendly craftspeople, bought some scraps of fabric from the quilting stand, saw felt being made at the felters stand, stroked a donkey, watched a demo of glass fusing in a revolutionary new microwave kiln and bought some lovely stationery items from a very talented Artist named Emma Ball, who specializes in watercolours and produces calendars, notebooks, prints, notecards and many other items from her colourful works of art. Most of all being at this spectacular show with my friends and just enjoying the beauty of the place and the sunshine really made my day!

For more info on Hatfield click here
For more info on Emma Ball click here

Singing Birds ATCs

2008-05-25T15:19:00.005+01:00

Singing Birds ATCs - May 2008
Originally uploaded by lubsy1uk

It seems everywhere you look these days you see birds being used in artwork - on people's blogs, on their ATCs, in collages, altered books, greeting cards, inchies, decoupage, rubber stamps - you name it and the birds are there.

Ok, so yeah, I've also jumped onto the "bird wagon", so to speak - well who can blame me when there are so many fine feathered friends out there just cooing and twittering to be stamped and stuck onto your art? I recently purchased a sheet of stamps from Oxford Impressions and am having a whole load of fun creating a flock of bird related art. So far I've only been using them on my ATCs but I plan to use them on greeting cards and as covers for some of my handmade books.

This series of singing birds has been a joy to create. I've used the watercolour ink technique on the backgrounds using Adirondak ink pads and then stamped and embossed a swirly tree image (from Paper Artsy) onto each card.

I then stamped two different birds (from the Oxford Impressions sheet) onto a printed magazine page and cut them out and fixed them onto the branches with foam pads.

Then I stamped and embossed some swirls at the bottom of the trees and added musical notes here and there and edged each card with a Krylon pen.

To complete, I finally stamped some words onto that plastic binding stuff they bind cartons with and adhered that to each card.

You can find them all flocked together here and they're all available for trading:-)

Birds Series ATCs

2008-05-23T16:14:00.006+01:00

Birds Series ATCs-May 2008
Originally uploaded by lubsy1uk

These are a series of bird ATCs I recently created. They're made using fabric and paper and I've stitched elements on to some cards and stamped onto others.

Birds and all things bird related are quite popular at the moment and that's really good I think - we should be more aware of nature and the beauty of God's creation all around us. I know it's made me notice the birds in my garden more and I actually like observing them and the funny little antics they get up to. It's only when we notice and observe, do we truly appreciate the wonder of creation.

Well these cards are all available for trade - you can see each of them separately on here - get yours before they fly away!

Broadstairs

2008-05-17T16:15:00.024+01:00

A few weeks ago we visited Broadstairs in Kent. It's a coastal town near Ramsgate and Margate on the South East coast of England. I'd been wanting to go for some time but had never managed to go before. I'd heard that it was a quaint seaside town and very pretty..... and guess what?.... It was!!

The day we left for Broadstairs the weather was a little dull and hazy but it brightened up into a gloriously sunny day later on. We passed field upon field of beautiful golden flowers of rape seed - a land carpeted in this is truly magnificent! Further along our journey on the M25 I couldn't resist snapping a pic of this car - look what it says on the back :-D

These are views of The Queen Elizabeth Bridge which we had to cross over to get into Kent. It crosses the River Thames. It's a toll bridge.

Broadstairs in all it's glory - it's a wonderful seaside town with friendly people and beautiful views. It has several sandy beaches which are very clean. This view shows Viking Beach and the harbour and in the furthest distance upon a steep cliff is Bleak House where Charles Dickens is reported to have stayed and done his writing. This house used to be open to the public until a couple of years ago but it's since been privately sold and is undergoing major refurbishments and sadly no longer open to the public.

Broadstairs has a strong Dickens connection since this town was close to his heart and he had a fondness for what he called "Our Watering Place" and he spent many summers here with his family.

This is a view of the English Channel and the seafront where throngs of people were gathered outside eating, drinking and enjoying the gorgeous weather and magnificent views.

This is the Dickens Museum, once the home of Miss Mary Pearson Strong, on whom Charles Dickens based much of the character of Miss Betsey Trotwood in his novel David Copperfield. This building has been adapted as a museum to commemorate the Novelist's association with the town of Broadstairs.

This plaque proudly announces the Dickens connection with the house. In the front parlour was this beautiful fan-shaped, leaded glass fire guard.

This is the Charles Dickens, a restaurant and pub on the seafront. It's reported to "command excellent views of the English Channel from upstairs in the old Assembly Rooms, once frequented by Charles Dickens himself."

Typical British seaside shops one where you can buy rock and all sorts of seaside paraphernalia and the other where you can buy good old fashioned fish n'chips soaked in salt and vinegar - mmm... yummy :-)

I would've liked to have browsed around in this little gift shop - it looked so quaint, unfortunately it was closed by the time we got to it. This other building are private apartments I think. I thought the whole building had a very New Orleans feel to it but still retained it's "Britishness".

This is a view of Bleak House as seen from the seafront. To reach it you have to climb a steep, winding hill, that passes private houses that are so charming and quaint. This used to be the seaside residence of Charles Dickens.

According to records, it's in this house, in a small study looking out across the sea, that Dickens wrote the greater part of his most famous novel - David Copperfield.

Apparently, in Dickens's day this house used to be called Fort House. Dickens was inspired by this house and conceived his idea for Bleak House here and wrote it back at his London residence in Tavistock Square.

This house stands atop a cliff looking down at amazing views of the harbour and out to sea. The cliffs which it stands on, are made up of chalk, just like the White Cliffs of Dover. On this sunny day, it was a pleasant walk upwards to the house and the view out to sea was incredible with the sun sparkling out onto the blue sea and the blue of the sky merging into it - it was truly beautiful.

Yet another reference to the great man himself!

for more information on Broadstairs click here ,
here , here and here

Yesterday1, Charming, Yesterday 2

2008-05-16T15:44:00.004+01:00

Yesterday1, Charming, Yesterday 2
Originally uploaded by lubsy1uk

I felt in a vintagey mood whilst making these cards. I started with the backgrounds - just playing around really. I had a bar of beeswax and thought I'd apply it all over the card and take it from there.

I just got my heat gun out and put the bar of beeswax to the card and let the heat melt the wax to the card while I rubbed it over. It melted quickly and covered the card quite easily. Then, while the wax was still hot, I inked up a script stamp with Versamark for the two "Yesterday" cards and pressed into the still warm wax to leave a slight impression.

When the wax had cooled completely I rubbed a little bronze mica powder into the impression and polished with a soft cloth. Where the impression was the powder clung into. For the "Charming" card I stamped a swirl stamp into the warm wax and went over with bronze mica powder. The overall effect had quite an aged feel about it, which was perfect for the images I'd chosen.

The images were all rub-on transfer images which went really well with the aged effect of the background and I completed the cards with lace embellishments and buttons.
Available on my Flickr site for trade :-)

Dragonfly 3 & 4

2008-05-16T15:03:00.002+01:00

Dragonfly 3 & 4
Originally uploaded by lubsy1uk

More silk flower with dragonfly ATCs in another colour theme. Available for trade from my Flickr site :-)

Dragonfly 1 & 2

2008-05-16T15:01:00.002+01:00

Dragonfly 1 & 2
Originally uploaded by lubsy1uk

These are a few silk flower and paper dragonfly ATCs that I've been creating.

I inked up the backgrounds using Adirondak inks and stamped script onto them and then layered printed text onto the cards before adding the final flower with jewel and dragonfly. Available for trade from my Flickr site.

Something Fishy ATCs

2008-05-16T14:44:00.005+01:00

Something Fishy ATCs
Originally uploaded by lubsy1uk

I was experimenting with background techniques and in the past when I've taken the brayer to the inkpad and brayered it over my card/paper, the result is a smudged muddy effect of colours - not really what I want. So this time I thought let me try putting the card on top of the rainbow inkpad and brayer over the top - well the results were far better and each band of colour was clearly visible and bright.

My next thought was, "what if I don't want to see the separate bands of colour, but instead want to see the colours merge into each other flawlessly?" So I remembered water colour techniques and I dampened my card stock with water and then laid it on top of the ink pad and brayered over it with the brayer and the result was beautiful - jewel like colours bleeding seamlessly into one another, without any muddiness or lines. This is exactly what I was hoping for and when I looked at each card I saw an underwater theme emerge and thought of tropical fishes in the colours of the Mediterranean seas.

I added a bit of dimension to each card by stamping bubble wrap on to the cards with Versamark and then dusting over with mica pearl powders. The shimmer added depth to the cards.

I had some fish greeting wrap from PaperChase, that I'd saved from ages ago and thought that would be perfect, so I cut the fishes out and stuck them on to the backgrounds with foam pads and then added some Beadz Accents to represent the sea bed and coral. To complete the scene I dotted air bubbles to the fish with the end of a pencil dipped into white gesso

I'm really pleased with this series and now they're available for trade -get yours before they swim away! :-D

Smokey & Laburnum Tree

2008-05-14T17:05:00.008+01:00

SMOKEY

Remember that abandoned blackbird's nest I was telling you about? well we finally took it down when we realised the bird had flown the coop, so to speak and inside was one tiny speckled blue egg. The funniest thing about this nest was one particular item the bird had chosen to use as its nest building material and that was the Caution label it had twined into its nest. I thought that was so hilarious - almost as if the bird could read and was putting up a notice in its home :-D Click on the pic to get a clearer image of the label.

Anyway, I put it on the lawn to photograph it and Smokey came along to investigate, so I thought, "hey great composition!" and clicked a couple of shots of him and the nest. He wasn't particularly interested in it anyway, besides he likes his eggs scrambled or fried - he's too old in the teeth to start cracking eggs himself :-D

We've been having such beautiful, sunny weather lately and one particular weekend we were in the garden and I was potting some plants and flowers and had my floppy sun hat on to avoid the glare of the sun. After a while of being out in the intense heat, I thought I'd take a little rest on the garden swing and dip into the latest issue of Artful Blogging by Stampington Publications, whilst having a cool drink. I got up to go into the house to get myself some water and within minutes of returning I find Smokey on the swing eyeing my magazine first - cheek of it! :-) I managed, eventually to persuade him to let me read it first and like a good cat he relented :-)

LABURNUM TREE
My Laburnum tree was in full bloom last week and now this week all the vivid yellow blossoms are blowing off and are scattering across the lawn like confetti. It's so sad that this tree flowers for so short a while - in a whole year it'll only flower for about 2 weeks and then that's it - doesn't make sense does it? But while it flowers, oh my! I just can't stop gazing at it and thanking God for the beauty of His creation. I love my Laburnum tree, it's given me years of pleasure just looking at it. My kids, when they were little used to climb this very tree and played around on it. I found out later that it's poisonous, but Thanks be to God we've never suffered any harm from it. When it's in bloom it lights up the garden like a golden beacon - I wish it would bloom forever.

Bits and Pieces

2008-05-03T13:11:00.009+01:00

ROBIN
This is a little fledgling robin that I discovered nesting on the shelf of my workshop where all my jars of mosaic pieces are. The workshop is in such a state that I haven't used it as a workshop at all for ages and it's become more like a shed. The mother robin probably thought "oh this is a nice uninhabited place for me to build my nest" and so she did. I caught sight of this scrawny little thing sitting atop an empty tin of chocs -it was so cute and wasn't in the least bit scared of me - it just stared straight at me.

I went outside and then I took this pic of it sitting by the window looking out (bottom left hand corner) - it just looks like one of those ornaments you put up at Christmas time :-D Well, the little thing has flown the coop now (so to speak) coz I haven't noticed it in the shed for a while.

ART IN A CARTON

This was the "Art in a Carton" I received from my good friend Shakti, in Spain. You can tell the time and love that she has imparted in creating this beautiful carton and all the wonderful ART inside. I was just "gobsmacked" with the colours and the exterior of the carton itself and the way Shakti had created the closing with eyelets and beaded ties - it truly is a work of ART!

Inside the carton was treasure of beautiful handcrafted goodies, just waiting for me to lovingly unwrap and admire: a gorgeous Art Doll made from what I think is balsa wood and trimmed with fibres, beads, sparkly stones etc, a small handmade book tied up with dark blue satin ribbon that matches the box, a beautiful ATC and a glittery gold leaf - everything was most impressive and I loved it all!

ANOTHER BIRDY STORY

Last week I discovered a birds nest in amongst my passion flower and honeysuckle bushes and sitting in it was what I thought was a blackbird, but now I'm not sure what it is. Can you make out from this pic of it peeking up? Anyway, I didn't disturb it - well, only took this photo but without flash, so as not to scare it. I noticed it would fly away for a while and then return again and sit in the nest but all this week it hasn't been there and I think it's abandoned the nest. Today my hubby checked the nest and sure enough there was one solitary speckled blue egg -cold. It made me feel so sad. We've left the nest there as it is - don't know what else to do really.

Quirky Town ATCs 7-11

2008-05-02T19:35:00.003+01:00

Quirky Town ATCs 7-11
Originally uploaded by lubsy1uk

These are the rest of the "Quirky Town" series.

Quirky Town ATCs 1-6

2008-05-02T19:34:00.005+01:00

Quirky Town ATCs 1-6
Originally uploaded by lubsy1uk

These are a set of cards I created with my recently purchased stamps from the Ally Pally Show last month. They're by Paper Artsy, who produce such amazing stamps! This particular sheet is called "Architecture"

The buildings are so quirky that I decided to title this series "Quirky Town" - quite apt I thought :-D

I used Adirondak Ink Pads to colourize the background and spritzed them with water to get that blotchy effect. I then stamped and embossed swirls onto the background and added some trim to each card. The buildings I stamped and embossed onto paint swatches and cut them out and stuck them onto the background with foam pads to give them a little lift :-D Finally I edged each card with a Krylon pen.

Now they're all up for grabs and you don't even need a mortgage! - check them all out on my Flickr site and I'm happy to trade :-)
http://www.flickr.com/lubsy1/photos

Changed My Blog Name

2008-04-29T16:40:00.004+01:00

You may have noticed a major change to my blog and it's that I've changed the name of it from "A Little Bit of This & a Little Bit of That" to "LoobyLou's Place". I did this for various reasons - one of them being, I thought my original title was a little long-winded - too much of a mouthful really:-). Secondly, LoobyLou's Place sounded more artistic - if you get my drift? Also, LoobyLou used to be my very first nickname in primary school (believe me I've had more after that!). Another reason was that when I first started this blog (very recently) I never took the time to chew around a few names before setling on "the one". I was too impatient to get blogging and "out there" - ok, I was rash - there I admitted it! In my reckless abandon and eagerness and impatience to start blogging and join the millions of others out there and share with them my ART and parts of my life and thoughts, I chose the first name that popped into my head - tho it sounded really good to me at the time.

But since I've been blogging and seeing that title bar appear it hasn't looked right or sounded right to me and then it came to me in a "Eureka" kinda vision - "LoobyLou".... LoobyLou's Place" - Yeah Baby! - that sounded good and most of all it was personal to ME. So Dear Readers, don't be worried I'm not about to chop and change after this - you can rest assured.

A little trivia on the name LoobyLou - Now this is going back a bit and showing my age, but what the heck:-D

In the 60's, when I was just a wee young slip of a girl, (and all our tv viewing used to be in black & white) there used to be a segment on TV called "Watch with Mother" and on this segment there used to be a show called "Andy Pandy" and for anyone in the know, Andy Pandy's best friend used to be called.... yes you guessed it! LoobyLou - that's how I got my nickname folks!

Birdcages ATCs

2008-04-25T19:57:00.004+01:00

Birdcages ATCs- April 2008
Originally uploaded by lubsy1uk

These are a series of bird related ATCs that I created today. I bought this sheet of u/m stamps from the BSSBS at Ally Pally a couple of weeks ago and now I'm just playing around with them. These were produced using just 4 of the 20 or so elements from that sheet. I've run out of Kling-on - that self adhesive foam backing for mounting stamps - so I can't use the other elements until I've bought some. You'd have thought the amount I spent and bought at the Ally Pally show, I would've bought more sheets of this stuff - honestly I'm hopeless sometimes!

Anyway, I'm happy with the results and colours and now they're ready for swapping - contact me soon before they fly away:-D

Stoke-on-Trent

2008-04-22T13:31:00.014+01:00

This weekend my family and I went up to Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, which is famous for its potteries. All the big names in pottery and china are based here and Stoke-on-Trent is historically rich in its potteries and big names: Royal Doulton, Royal Worcester, Wedgewood, Spode, Moorcroft - to name just a few. We visited The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery which was really interesting. The exterior of the building has a mural in relief depicting the history of the area and the Pottery Industry - it's very detailed and beautifully done.

Inside, the museum is sectioned into a Natural History Museum with information and artefacts on the local and surrounding areas and the rich history of the pottery industry. Then there is a World War II Spitfire plane on display as well as various exhibition galleries and the ceramics galleries themselves, which apparantly hold the finest collection of British ceramics in the world. What I saw certainly looked "fine" to me!

I saw some gorgeous ceramics and gazing at the various Clarice Cliff pieces made me purr like a kitten:-)

This is the Ephesus Jar -a storage jar excavated in 1883, from the site of the Temple of Artemis, in the ancient city of Ephesus (situated on the western coast of modern day Turkey). It dates from around 400BC!! It stands at 5ft 6in tall and has a circumference of 12ft 2in and weighs a whopping 737kilos!!

These were some of the old collection of earthernware and ceramicware that was housed in this museum. I saw some exquisite pieces and well known names.
for further info on Stoke-on-Trent and The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery:
http://www.stoke.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/leisure/museums/potteries-museum---art-gallery/

Sun 20.4.08 - FORD GREEN HALL

This was another place we visited in Stoke-on-Trent. Ford Green Hall is one of the few surviving remnants of Stoke-on-Trent's pre-industrial past. It's an original timber-framed structure, built as a farmhouse in 1624 for Hugh Ford, a wealthy farmer. It was the family home of the Fords for nearly 200 years. Over the centuries the house has changed considerably, altering and adapting to suit the needs and fashions of each generation.

Today the house is displayed as the home of the Ford family, though none of the contents are original to the Hall they're similar to those that would've furnished the house in the 17th & 18th centuries.

We were free to wander round the house and a guide book was given to us upon entrance. This particular day the staff were all dressed up in period costume of the era and adults and children alike were invited to try on costumes and have their photos taken.

The interior of the house was exactly as I imagined it to be - beamed ceilings, wooden floors, crooked walls and rickety stairs - it was beautiful! Inside there was plenty of information about the house and all the rooms and on the ground floor there was a small quaint tearoom and gift shop where we sat for refreshments and I bought some souveniers of our visit.

At the rear of the house was a charming garden recreated in 1996 as no trace of the original garden survives.

for further information on Ford Green Hall: http://www.stoke.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/leisure/museums/ford-green-hall/

Playing Catch-up

2008-04-16T15:43:00.008+01:00

I go bookmaking classes every Monday evening , local to where I live. It's run by a really nice lady from New Zealand, Annalise. She has 15 years experience in making and binding books and is one talented lady. She teaches from home and the atmosphere and environment is relaxed and friendly. It's a small group with just 5 of us ladies attending - my sis-in-law - Uzma, 2 of my friends - Amanda & Lyn and another lady whom we've become friends with through this class - Terry. Well, on the drive to class this Monday evening I noticed the most glorious sunset and being the habitual photographer that I am, I just had to capture it. Really I could've bathed in the spectacular beauty of it all. Nothing moves me more than a glorious sunset and the serenity of a full moon.

Each week we make a different style of book (sometimes a particular book has a lengthier method of making and so spreads over 2wks). This week we tackled an A5 size book with cardboard cover and 8 signatures inside, with pages of plain white paper. The binding was a longstitch/chain stitch binding, whereby the pages are secured together by a running chain stitch at the top and bottom and in between there are 2 rows of double long stitch. I used a variegated thread to make the stitch more visible and effective.

Later that night when I was admiring my handiwork (big head that I am!) - I realized that it was too plain for my liking so I jazzed it up a little - well a lot really! I had this picture of a mermaid on a greeting card sent to me by my good friend Chantal and I thought it would look right at home on the cover of this book, so I laid it on some purple and white angel hair and then heated that onto some blue iridescent paper and stuck that to the cover. I then peeled off some vellum script and positioned that on top and finally embellished some plastic iridescent shells on the four corners of the picture. The end result was very pleasing if I say so myself! :-D (well to me anyway!)

RESIN CASTING DAY

Yesterday I met up with a few of my mosaic buddies (Amanda, Lyn, Cathy and Sharon) at Cathy's home and we had a day of camaraderie and crafting - is there any other better day! We were having a resin casting day, whereby we put tiny objects into greased moulds and then poured acrylic resin into it to set. But that's all in a nutshell - allow me to elaborate..........

Cathy and Sharon had had experince of doing this before so we had enough help and guidance on hand. Also just to add, whenever we have these kinda days we all bring some food to the table to share - which just adds to the camaraderie of the day. So, step one was deciding upon the moulds we'd use (that in itself is a laborious process but fun nonetheless). Amanda is a hoarder of very useful stuff and over the years had amassed a huge collection of packaging from cakes, biscuits, chocolates, fruit and other foodstuffs and it was these plastic innards of the contents that were going to be particularly useful to us.

We'd also come prepared with what I can only describe as a veritable feast of "bits" - little scraps, beads, shards, shells, lichen, dead insects, dried flowers, sequins, glass, mesh, string, paper, metal... infact anything that cold be embedded into resin and would fit into these moulds. Cathy, like the "hostess with the mostess" that she is, had displayed a selection of all the little resin pieces she'd made before, for us to see and to get an idea of what certain mould shapes would produce and the effects you'd get using different types of material - so that really inspired us and got our creative juices flowing.

After deciding upon the moulds we were going to use and greasing them liberaly with liquid vaseline (to stop the acrylic resin from sticking permanently to the moulds), we then began the fun bit of choosing from the huge array of goodies set out before us that we were going to put into our moulds. This is the bit where you can go as wild as you want - but aahh... therein lies the danger, as sometimes, the "less is more" approach gives better results . But, as "Yours Truly" doesn't know the meaning of "less" and is by quite extremes "more" I'll just leave it to your imagination as to what I filled my moulds with! :-D
Well, the above pic shows you exactly what I put in there but the end result will be blingier - believe me! Filling the moulds with all the lovely lovely bits took quite a while and Lyn, being the perfectionist that she is, was "talking her way through it" like she often does when she gets deeply absorbed in a project - it's very endearing to hear her - "Was this too much?" "did this go with that?" "does this look right?" "does my bum look big in this?" - no, no, she didn't really say that, I just couldn't resist throwing that last remark in:-D. Anyway she managed to fill all her moulds in the end. Amanda nearly died of shock as she was concentrating so hard on what she was doing and Cathy's cat George put his paw through the window and swiped playfully at Amanda's neck - she jumped and screamed with fright and we all burst out laughing when we realised what had happened.

By now it was time for lunch and we'd really worked up an appetite and Cathy had laid everything out so nicely on the table. There were quiches, salad, aubergine pasta, coleslaw and yummy choices for dessert. After that gastronomical delight we were ready and full of energy for the final stage in our resin casting.

The resin was a two part mix and had to be mixed together according to the ratio on the box and we had to wear gloves as the stuff is so incredibly sticky. Once the resin was ready we carefully poured a little into each of our moulds, just enough to cover the tops of the all the things inside. We had to be very careful at this stage as sometimes certain items in the mould would float to the top and we had to prod them back down again. That was it. After this all we had to do was wait 24hrs for it to set completely and then pop them out of the moulds to see the end result.

Well, since I have to wait for my resin pieces to dry so do the rest of you. I'll display my results for you all here in my next posting - so stay tuned folks!

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-04-16T14:24:00.002+01:00

What's a Poor Crafter to Do?

2008-04-14T14:13:00.013+01:00

Over the course of this weekend Alexandra Palace hosted the Big Stamp & ScrapBooking Show. There are two shows hosted here annually - one in the Spring and another in Autumn. I love attending these shows and always end up spending too much on things I could (if I was truthful) live without, but get tempted into buying. These shows do that to you and unless your will power is protected by re-inforced armour plating then you fall into that "shop till you drop" and I absolutely must have this" trap.

But, it's really not your fault you tell yourself when you get home and unpack your purchases one by one and lay them out till your table is groaning under the weight of tons of crafting supplies. You really did need all this STUFF! What's a poor Crafter to do when she's bombarded in every which way direction by the most delicious, tempting array of goodies that each company has to offer. The demos alone make my mouth water with anticipation of producing the same gorgeous art that the exhibitor has just shown you how to make - that's why you simply have to buy that specific stamp and that specific ink pad and that specific trim and card and embossing powder and doodad and that £30 gadget with accessories that does everything except wipe your backside!! - even tho you have all that stuff at home anyway!

But, like I said, it's not your fault - your defenses are down. That inviting smile from the Exhibitor and the friendly chitchat and most of all that amazing demo she/he's making especially for you! - how can you not give into their charms and hand over all your dosh with that starry eyed, glazed look on your face - it's only money after all and what's that compared to the ART you'll be able to create - bigger, better and MORE because of all the stuff you were persuaded to buy! (SUCKER!!)

Oh well, I tell myself again this time, that I definitely won't be attending the next show in September - no I really won't - honestly I mean it, believe me I'm not going - Really! Hmmm.... now where can I find me a blacksmith and a pattern for an armour-plated dress?

Ok, you really wanna see the total array of goodies I was "persuaded" to buy? Well, don't say I didn't warn you!............ (I've listed every single item beneath)

1. 1x gold Krylon pen
2. 1 x red Krylon pen
3. 4 x soft brushes for mica powders (2 were for my friends)
4. 3 x mini spritzers
5. 3pks button embellishments (for Meena)
6. 3 x Colourbox ink stackers
7. 1 x black Archival ink pad
8. 1x black Stazon ink pad
9. 4 x assorted embossing powders
10. 1 x Crop-a-Dile with accessories box
11. 6 x collage images sheets
12. 1 pk x 12 Jaquard Pinata alcohol inks
13. 1 k x12 mica powders
14. 9 x various plastic stackpots
15. 3 x Sakura Jellyroll pens
16. 5 x VersaMagic ink pads
17. 6 x various palstic storage boxes
18. 2 x Tim Holtz's alcohol inks
19. 3 pks polypropylene ATC sleeevs
20. 1 x mini brayer
21. 1 x Friendly Plastic
22. 6 x adhesive roller refills
23. 3 x assorted size clear greeting cards bags
24. 3 x white tag books
25. 2pks various Bazzill chip shapes
26. 4pks chipboard shapes
27. 1 x book -Handmade Clear Stamped Cards by Barabara Grey (Clarity Stamps) - signed
28. 1 xA2 cutting mat
29. 1pk A4 black shrink plastic
30. 1pk Kling-On for mounting rubber stamps
31. 1pk Cut n' Dry stamp pad felt
32. 1pk x 50 pearlescent cream greeting cards
33. 1pk x 10 red pearlescent greeting cards
34. 1pk ass. colours long skinny envelopes
35. 1pk small square buff coloured envelopes
36. 1 x mini book for altering
37. 2 x Paper Artsy gold trim
38. 2 rolls double sided adhesive sheets
39. 1m red/gold swirl design fabric
40. 1 set coloured metallic binder rings
41. 2 pks Paper Artsy rubber stamps sheet
42. 1 x Indian designs rubber stamp sheet from Avec
43. 2 x individual stamps from Artistic Stamper
44. 1 x Indian design rubber stamp set from Woodware Craft Collection
45. 1 x Oxford Impressions - "The Bird's Nest" rubber stamp sheet
46. 2 rubber stamp sheets from Invoke
47. 1 x dressmakers dummy stamp from Clarity Stamp
48. 1 x man's tie u/m stamp
49. Tim Holtz's Stampers Anonymous Swirl Stamp
50. 1 x paisley rub-on sheet ..........
and a partridge in a pear tree!!!! - couldn't resist, just had to finish off with that! :-D

Well, there you have it in it's entirety - amazing or what! The list looks more than the picture doesn't it? - which just goes to prove the old addage "a picture is worth more than a thousand words".

Now that you've got your breath back (hopefully), sit back and take in the pleasant views of Ally Pally (as we Londoners affectionately refer to Alexandra Palace as). Are you sitting comfortably? - then we shall begin.......

This is the South elevation of Alexandra Palace
The Western elevation - The Phoenix Bar entrance.

Beautiful Rose Window of the Great Hall.

The Great Hall of Alexandra Palace where they host exhibitions and conferences.

The foyer of Alexandra Palace otherwise known as the Palm Court - decor is based on Egyptian style.
This is the magnificent view from atop Musgrove Hill, North London where Alexandra Palace stands. You can see the London skyline in the faraway distance. To your far left is Canary Wharf and The Docklands and to the far right is the "Exotic Gherkin" building and the Financial District. It really is a breathtaking view and I never tire of it. For more info on Alexandra Palace go to: http://www.alexandrapalace.com/

Welsh Dresser

2008-04-11T17:13:00.005+01:00

My Welsh Dresser takes pride and place in the corner of my kitchen and brightens it up cheerfully. It's an old pine dresser made from reclaimed timber. I've always loved dressers - be they Welsh dressers, French dressers or antique dressers. They have a certain character of their own, unlike any other piece of furniture. They're made to hold and display crockery on and I've used mine to display my collections on.

I've lovingly displayed my collection of teapots, salt and pepper shakers, plates, cards and other knick-knacks on it. Each piece has a sentimental significance to it and just by glancing at it I can remember who gave me which piece and also what was scavanged from flea markets myself. I love colourful ceramic ware and am drawn to objects that are warm and homey - cottages, fruit, flowers, vases, pots, jugs etc - not so much the cutesy cutesy things like teddy bears and bunnies tho'. It's a job to dust and I really get to it by starting at the very top and clearing each shelf systematically before dusting and polishing - yep I take great pride in looking after my Welsh Dresser and I 'm not ashamed to admit it!

Collections

2008-04-10T22:06:00.005+01:00

Some simple facts about me:

I love collecting postcards. I always buy loads whenever I go away - abroad or even within the UK. I take photos on my camera too, but postcards are something else aren't they? They're someone else's view - a more professional take on that place you're visiting, a different view from what you're able to take, from a greater height, a more panoramic view that you just wouldn't be able to achieve on your own camera - whatever the reason postcards just do it for me.

They're one thing I beg my friends to send me whenever they go on hols and I go ga-ga over them when they give me even one postcard (yeah I'm a really cheap buy!). I display them proudly on my kitchen wall. It actually started on the huge notice board but then I kept getting and receiving more and I've had to spread them over the wall and now they're gonna spread down the other side of the wall. My daughter thinks I'm nuts - but I tell her in a wise motherly, knowing way that she too will end up doing this when she eventually reaches my age (she shudders at the thought!) :-D
I love collecting fridge magnets - I know, I know, I'm a hopeless cheap souvenier collecter - what can I do! It's the kitschy side to me - but hey tasteful kitsch if you please! This is another one of the little things I must get whenever I go away. My friends all know it too, so if they're left with a couple of dollars, pesatos, lira, rupees, dhirams, yen, pesos, pounds - whatever the currency, wherever the country they think "oh good, just enough to buy Lubna a cheap fridge magnet!" Hey I'm not complaining - I even buy my own thank you very much!

So here they are all displayed neatly on my fridge and I look at them every day and I can name where they came from and who gave them to me - it makes me smile!
With my postcards on the walls and the magnets on my fridge I have a visual impact filled with memories at every glance - what more can I ask for?

The reason I put this photo here was coz I knew if anyone saw the postcard photo their eyes would've caught this colourful display (I know I would've in someone else's pics!) anyway, they're a collection of just ordinary, everyday bottles that you'd normally throw away (or recycle) after use. Some years ago I had access to a kiln for fusing glass and I put the bottles in there and they just slumped in the high degree heat and then whenI took them out I placed glass beads, broken bits of glass, millefiori, nuggets, stained glass - in fact any glass bits - and then it went back into the kiln and came out fused to the bottles. Some fused into the bottles and became part of the bottle itself, whilst others fused onto the glass and are raised and looked as if they're glued on but they're actually fused into the glass of the bottle.

I thought they'd make a nice collection for this space of wall - and they're a great talking point too!

The Virtues of Blogging - according to Lubna

2008-04-09T16:53:00.009+01:00

I've been reading the latest Spring 2008 edition of Artful Blogging, a visually stunning and inspirational publication from Stampington & Co - http://www.stampington.com/
Just flicking through the pages of this weighty volume makes you drool with anticipation of the temptation waiting for you inside and actually getting down to reading it.... well I tell you, woe betide anyone who interrupts me when I'm floating away in the land of Creativity Heaven (yes there really is such a place and you all know it!).

Stampington & Co Publications really wear the crown when it comes to this genre of magazine – there’s nothing that can match their superb articles, printing, content and quality – I really believe that and put my money where my mouth is by subscribing to Somerset Studio Magazine and their other quarterly and bi-annual magazines – Somerset Life and Somerset Home – each one enticing and delicious as the last!

Wow! just read that last paragraph back to myself and I sound like their Sponsor - may be they should give me commission for this write up! :-O

Anyway, this latest edition is packed with such inspiring stories from real life artists who share their passion of art and how they began blogging and after reading cover to cover I noticed a pattern forming in the experiences each artist had to say about venturing into Blogland:

they were scared at first

they thought they had nothing to say

even if they did have something to say, who would be interested in reading it

would it become tedious and tiresome

they weren't writers they were artists

they had no photography skills

they lacked confidence

they weren't computer savvy

There were lots more similarities - but you know what? - each of these amazing people, little by little, overcame their fears, inadequacies, lack of skills and by sharing their fears with friends and family they gained confidence and opened the door to Blogland and all it had to offer and those doors have remained opened for them ever since.

Reading their stories has inspired me and fired me up to enter the realms of Blogland myself and even tho' I'm a newbie to blogs I'm not a newbie to journaling - the big difference is that it's online and you're sharing! I've always enjoyed writing - whether it be keeping a diary/journal, scrapbooking, writing letters, poetry, writing short articles for newsletters - whatever it is I've always known that I could put pen to paper and string a line of comprehensible words together - but would what I have to say be interesting to other people - ahh that's where the crux of the question lies!

The blogs I've read online, well most of them are about ordinary people going on with their ordinary lives and what they do and create - but that's interesting to me and I like that kinda stuff - but most of, all they get read by hundreds of people who share the same kind of experiences with them and can relate to them and that's what does it I think - that's what opens them up to the world and everyone in it - the togetherness of the world - sharing, giving, receiving, playing, creating, seeing, watching, reading, posting, crafting, imagining, crying, laughing and loving!

I WANT TO BE PART OF THIS AMAZING WORLD!

It's Either Too Early Or Too Late

2008-04-07T02:12:00.004+01:00

At this moment whilst I'm tapping away at my keyboard it's 2.14am GMT - I've still not gone to bed so I'm either too late from last night or too early for this morning - if that sounds confusing then forgive me it must be my sleepiness talking!

But no, I digress..... what I really wanted to say is that it's SNOWING!!! Ok, I admit while that doesn't sound like anything exciting to people in North America (especially the Eastern seaboard - New York, Chicago etc) to us in London, where we hardly get to see snow falling, it's a truly magical sight! I can see the snow whirling round and round from my window where I sit by my desk. The street lamps are casting a bright orange glow onto the beautiful big snowflakes as they come tumbling down. The first thought that came to my mind as I first noticed the snow was "I feel like I'm in a snow globe!" It's so magical and wondrous! It's only a very light snow and I can't see any of it settling yet, but Saturday night it snowed and we woke up to a blanket of snow covered ground and rooftops on Sunday morning, so it may settle - we'll know later on. Oops I spoke too soon - it's stopped! - how weird.

Well I'm going to bed now and when I wake up at a more appropriate time I'll put up another posting to give you the latest on the weather and more.
Sweet Dreams!

Something for the Weekend

2008-04-06T00:14:00.009+01:00

Well, it's been a lovely Spring day here today. The garden is still quite bare but things are budding. I have one solitary red tulip growing, it looks so sad all by itself but it does add a splash of colour to an otherwise colourless flower bed - no, hang on I tell a lie, we have a beautiful young tree that has a mass of pink blossom on it. Actually don't know what sort of tree it is (my hubby planted it last year and has forgotten!) - but it is lovely. See for yourself!

This is my cat Smokey. He loves basking in the warmth of the sun and he actually catches a tan of sorts - his usually smokey grey fur gets tinged with red!

Yesterday's Accident

2008-04-04T15:20:00.001+01:00

There was a terrible accident outside my house yesterday. It happened just as the kids were coming out of school around 3.20pm. I was upstairs on the computer and I heard a loud thud and I looked out the window and saw someone lying in the road and people had started to gather around. I immediately phoned the emergency services and they arrived amazingly fast on the scene. Apparantly a young boy had been knocked over. I don't know what his condidition was/is, I'll have to wait till the local paper reports it in a couple of days - I just pray he's ok. It was so hectic out there for about an hour with the police ariving on the scene and traffic being held up and so many people gathered on the streets watching intently - it's so sad.

Well, onto a more brighter note.... I've been busy busy busy creating these wraparound books. I'm like a whirling dervish producing book after book. I've made about 15 in all so far and they're so satisfying to make and easy too. They're pamphlet stitched with handmade paper covers and the covers wraparound twice - hence the name "wraparound books". They measure 16cm x 13cm approx and they're ideal for journaling. I'm planning to open an Etsy account and put them on sale there - it all takes time tho doesn' it?

Art in a Carton

2008-04-01T14:51:00.002+01:00

This is the carton I received from Jill. It was decorated really simply but effectively and the contents inside were just gorgeous. There was an Art doll (I think they're called), a butterfly ATC and a beautiful small square quiltie. You can see a lot of thought went into this and I really loved receiving it - Thank you Jill!

Well, I've completed my 3 cartons and have made the gifts to put inside and now they're all ready to be packaged and posted. Only thing I'm left with one carton that I don't know who to send to. If anyone's interested in taking part in this ongoing art sharing project then you can get further details from Susan J Letham's site
www.art-in-a-carton.blogspot.com

Here are my 3 cartons ready to be packaged and posted. Each carton contains a handmade book, an ATC and a ceramic hand with an incense cone. All items are made by me except for the incense cone.

These are just close up of each carton and their contents. The cartons look plain black, but I've actually painted them with balck gesso and them stamped them using the Brilliance range of inks, which have an irridescent quality about them and show up more when light is thrown upon it.