Beside the Sea

I like sea/seaside themes so I jumped at the chance to join a swapbot swap called Beside The Sea. Here are the two ATCs I've made for it, using digital scrapbook papers, vellum quotes and images found online.

Triptychs.... and an award from Mayjay

Today I have made two triptychs for a swap-bot swap. Rather than the hinged or folded shrine style triptychs, these are sets of three ATCs that make a continuous picture but still work on their own.

The Japanese themed one consists of collage, images stamped in silver and black, sakura pens and holographic embossing powder on a gessoed base. I created it as one picture and cut it into three afterwards.




The Tuscan landscape I painted myself, using acrylics, oil pastels and black pen. I followed the instructions (more or less) from a children's book: The Usborne Book of Art Projects. I'm thrilled with how it turned out.

A couple of days ago my friend Mayjay honoured me with a One Lovely Blog award. Thank you May :-) I can't get it to appear in a column so I'll put it here for now. And I know I need to nominate some other blogs but I will save that for another day.

Blue and White

I made these four yesterday for a blue and white themed ATC swap on swap-bot. I am really pleased with how they turned out, especially because I had already had several goes at blue and white and they weren't working.

The first pair feature stamps from Ivoke Arts, acrylic paints, weathered wood distress ink and corrugated packaging. I have a ton of lovely stamps (and have just ordered more!) but I don't use them nearly as much as I should. My plan is to cut down on collage and stamp more. Whether I manage it remains to be seen - haha.

The second pair use images from the Internet which I altered in a program I've had for ages (probably since Windows 95) called Professor Franklin's Instant Photo Effects. It does what it says on the tin and is often a lot less pfaff than firing up Photoshop Elements. You can download a free trial from the link above.

The background to Sun Sea Sex! is some tie dye hand made paper I bought at Craft Central last year - it looks like sea to me. The embellishments came from a cheapie card kit from The Works.

Birthday Card

I made this card this morning for my friend Jean; it's her birthday on Tuesday. I bought the fab twill ribbon from a stall Cambridge market - it's from a company called East of India - and I've been looking for something to use it on. Not sure if I needed to add the smallest buttons as they overrun the mat. Oh well, they're well and truly glued on now. The camera perspective has made it look bowed. I'm sure there's a button in Photoshop Elements to correct it but I'm too bloody lazy to look :-)

Good News - and some ATCs

My mum had a stent fitted on Friday (that's something that keeps the furred up artery walls apart so blood can flow properly again). She came home on Saturday and I stayed with her until this morning. She is doing fine so far, thank goodness. Thank you to everyone who left messages or emailed me.

I'm going to try and get some crafting done over the next couple of days. In the meantime, here's some ATCs I made for a swap-bot swap. The challenge was Christmas-themed Zetti style ATCs (bright colours, stripes etc).



This is one I did for a Wild West swap in early December. I was quite pleased with how it turned out, especially the fake leather background. I wish I could remember how I did it; I know I used a cuttlebug embossing folder and I think an ink pad .

What a way to start a new year!

Just to let you know all my good intentions to get back in crafting/blogging mode are on hold for now.

My mum had a mild heart attack on New Year's Day and most of my time is taken up visiting her in hospital some distance away (this is one of the few times I really regret not being able to drive). She seems to be doing okay and goes to Basildon for an angiogram on Friday, so hopefully things are on the up, or at least being taken care of.

Anyways, apologies for not responding to any blog comments or checking your blogs, but am feeling pretty knackered (I think I have the heating turned up too high as well; it's making me sleepy). So keep your fingers crossed for Mum. And hopefully I'll be knee deep in ink, paper and UTEE again before too long!