THE SIX INCH SQUARE

TATTY TUESDAY - No 4

2012-02-07T15:44:00.001Z

A TATTY TUESDAY TO YOU!

Today I'm showing you a card showcasing a technique I've been wanting to try out for some time. An image formed using rolls of paper/card placed side by side. I few years ago I was asked to make a piece of paper craft and mixed med jewellery for a friend...it was a pendant, utilising pre printed images and made on much smaller scale, but it did inspire me to want to try it out as a card and using a stamped image. I never really got around to it until now. I cannot, however, claim the idea to be mine as I have seen it done a number of times before on jewellery....but not on a card, or shaped in the way I have done...so I guess I put a little bit of my own spin on things.

Seeings as it's February and Valentines Day will soon be on us, my idea was create a heart shape design card....and the choice of Tatty Button image?...well it was a no brainer. Best Friends is a perfect shaped image to fit inside a heart and the two ponies nuzzling each other makes for a sweet romantic scene too.
N0. 4 - VALENTINES CARD

A very simple design and layout using just two colours of cardstock and one stamp image in black ink.

Firstly, the image was stamped out in full 9 times onto plain white paper. Each piece was then curled around a wooden dowel to create a roll. Each roll was then placed side by side, lined up in such a way to re-construct the full image again.

It takes a fair bit of patience and working out in order to get the right sections to line up. The idea in itself is easy and simple....but the difficulty is in you having make sure that each roll is exactly the same dimensions (that is why I used a piece of dowel rather than hand rolling each piece freestyle. It also proved a bit difficult shaping the piece as I chose to rip the edges to give a softer look to it, rather than cutting with scissors. A heart may not have been the best of choices to use for my first go at this, but there you go...I like a challenge LOL!

One of the problems I encountered was the rolls themselves were not very stable once the dowel was removed. They got a little out of shape during assembly of the card and this increases the danger of the image distorting. The problem lay in the thinness of the paper and perhaps something with a slightly higher gsm would have been better. Depending on the design, the dowels could also be left inside the rolls for extra support and create more uniformity...but in this case the heart shape made that impossible.....so I live and learn :) (BTW - I did actually leave supports in the rolls used in the original jewellery piece - it certainly needed to be strong to endure being worn).

The rolled image piece was then attached to a coloured card heart which was run through an embossing folder to add more depth and interest in texture...the shape, being a contrasting colour also reaffirmed the heart shape of the rolled stamped image.

It proved a very interesting technique to try out and I'll definitely be having another go....it certainly has scope to be used in cardmaking in more ways....so I need to practise a little bit more and experiment with some other images and colours.

STAMP IMAGE USED - TB10 Tatty Button 'Best Friends'

Tatty Ta Ta for now!

BAUBLE A MONTH CHALLENGE - FEBRUARY

2012-02-03T11:00:00.000Z

I didn't really want to get sucked into making themed ornaments based on the events/activities taking place during each month...

BUT...It's February...love and romance is in the air and Valentines Day is around the corner...so how could I not...just this once lol!

BAUBLE A MONTH 2012 CHALLENGE -

'FEBRUARY BAUBLE'

'IT'S ALL ABOUT THE HEART'

This month I decided to look at paper sculpture, but quite a simple form. The inspiration actually came from books...or rather the art of Susan Porteous where she transforms books into stunning sculptures and forms. I was browsing various artists and altered book artwork for a completely separate project when I happened across her website...and began to think that the idea and way in which many of the pieces used the bound pages splayed open to create beautiful forms was very appealing. In many pieces in altered book/book sculpture, the whole book is opened out completely into a 360 degree form and this was what I decided that I wanted to recreate...the idea, and shape, but not an actual book, to be shrunk down to an appropriate bauble size.

Although not using real book pages, I decided, as a nod towards the hand stitched pages in traditional book binding, to create my 'bauble pages' from card, and stitched in a similar way.

Heart shapes are conveniently suitable for this sort of form...since they are symmetrical in shape so can be folded evenly in half.....and by using a die cut, it was easy to produce a multiple of uniform shapes.

15 hearts were cut out with Spellbinders Classic Heart (S4-136) dies, using a red plain 270gsm card stock and placed into 5 groups of 3 hearts. This particular thickness of card gave a good strength to the ornament and a nice crisp fold. Each heart was scored and folded down the centre, then each group of 3 was then layered up and stitched together down the centre crease line to form a book of 6 'pages'. Once all 5 groups of pages were stitched, the outer pages were adhered together to create a full 'book'. This was then opened out fully into a 360 degree shape and the remaining outer pages glued together to hold the form as a bauble.

Once assembled, it became clear that the thicker (glued together) pages, against the thinner single ones, made quite uneven spacing and the centre pages with the stitched areas showing splayed out too much so the overall display was uneven. To combat this, the pages with the stitches showing were also glued together...thus creating a book of alternate thick glues and thin single pages. This made it much more even and neat in appearance. The final bauble now contained 20 pages.

To create a hanger, a small length of craft wire was threaded through the gap in the centre and formed into loops each end. I made a black card tassel to hang from the base loop, and the top loop was attached to a hanging chain.

To create a bit more depth and interest I inked up the edges of the pages, using Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Black Soot , applied with a sponge applicator to blend and soften the edges. I have to admit, at this point I was tempted to decorate the bauble further, with stamped up scrolls and romantic script...but held off as I thought it might detract from the actual shape and sculptural qualities of the pages....and I quite liked it as it stood. I might make another one, at a later date to see if it looks good...or even experiment with preprinted and patterned papers.

So, there we go for another month...and off I go to start thinking about what I'm going to do for March...and it'll be completely different I promise!

Faux Antiqued Cracked glass effect.

2012-02-01T15:59:00.002Z

A few weeks ago I started a project to which I wanted to create an aged and cracked glass appearance (actually using real glass) but didn't have any glass crackle medium (and didn't want to buy any...because I'm tight lol!..and didn't want to spend loads on something I only needed to treat a small area) so in typical Ange fashion I started looking at ways to create the effect with what I'd already got in supplies....and also put out the call to friends for their advice. Now, I didn't want a coloured/paint crackle effect...I was after acheiving a look of the glass being crackled without actually altering the glass colour..so the coloured paint crackles and techniques were out of the question.

I was directed to Wendy Vecchi's Blog and found something that got my hopes up well and truely...

you can read the blog post here - Wendy Vecchi - using Rock Candy on glass

Wendy blogged about her experiences in experimenting with the Tim Holtz crackle paint - the Rock Candy product being a clear substance that crackles beautifully...but she had trouble getting it to adhere onto the smooth surface - it flaked and fell off! The answer for her lay in the Ranger product Glue n Seal which she applied as a base to create a key for the crackle to stick to.

Now, I have the Rock Candy...so this was going to be my answer for my project...but I don't actually have the GnS product, so after reading what it was...basically an all purpose glue and sealer for various crafts from cardmaking to collage and decoupage...I thought to myself that it may not be the actual product, but the type of medium that I needed...and seeings as I have a good slection of glues and stuff in my stash...one at least was surely to work as this base/key. So, it was time to experiment.

After a hunt in the cupboards, I settled on these two (I did want to use Mod Podge but couldn't find the tub!)-

1. ordinary Multipurpose PVA glue (bought in 5l tubs from a DIY merchants).....and
2. Golden Matte Gel Medium (which I use for a lot of mixed med and collage work).

First I found a nice clean jam jar with clear smooth sides and using a perm black marker pen, divided it into two sections and labelled each accordingly (so I wouldn't forget which base was which - as they both dry clear). And then coated each section with the mediums and allowed them to dry completely overnight.

The following day I treated the sections with a good coating of Tim Holtz Crackle Paint ROCK CANDY.

...and again, left it over night to dry and do it's work. I may be possible to accelerate up the drying and crackling process using a heat gun but I wanted an fair test on both mediums and so the best solution was to leave it to dry at an even abient temperature.

This was the result -

NOTE FIRST! - the crackled effect left clear was not very easy to photograph and made it look like the results were very poor....I have rubbed over the crackled surface with a brown shade of Distress Ink to make it more visable to the eye.

PVA GLUE BASE

The results were very pleasing and the crackle took well and adhered well to the glass surface...with just minor areas flaking off where the Rock Candy was possible applied too thinly...but if you're after a distressed antique effect this is still quite acceptable.

GOLDEN MATTE GEL

Great crackle and the whole area was very stable and adhered perfectly to the glass with no signs of flaking.

So...the results proved that other mediums can be used as a base for the Rock Candy on glass....the Matte Gel medium may be my preferred choice as the crackles were heavier but I guess it depends on how extreme you want your crackles to be. Other similar surfaces can also be treated with the crackle paint using this technique....and can also be tinted with ink colours to create a number of lovely effects. I think other products of similar medium/usage would also work well as a base and feel confident that the Mod Podge (although not found) would be equally successful.

You can read how Wendy also used this technique to create a Faux crazed porcelain, here - Wendy Vecchi - faux crazed porcelaine

...and now I know how to do this, I'm now off to try and finish my project!

MONTHLY BAUBLE CHALLENGE.

2012-01-22T13:45:00.001Z

I don't get the chance to be involved with many art/craft challenges...not nowadays, but I used to and it was always really fun and rewarding...from hosting, to joining...ATCs, trading works, craft projects, art techniques and so on. I miss it...but there are many reasons I don't now...not going to go into detail about all that, health, time etc etc, but this year there is one thing I am going to do...

...I've decided to set myself a little personal challenge this year.

It stems from a recent conversation with the wonderfully talented Australian artist Linda Baldock (click on name to open up her fab blog page) over a post from early December last year. It was all part of the Helmar DT Blog Hop... here's the blog link - A very helmar christmas.... which she also includes links to the Helmar stuff...so you can read it, follow and understand what it's all about.

So, in the post, Linda goes about creating some amazing ornaments using glass baubles and Helmar glue...

...and I was completely enthralled by this technique and the finished articles....and desperate to have a go....so a conversation ensued with Linda (after researching Helmar, and basically wondering if I could use an alternative material to get a similar effect) which sort of then evolved into an loosely batted about idea of setting up some sort of group cum challenge, cum bauble swap thing, which was sounding pretty darn interesting. The conversation, however, came to a halt there and I'm not sure if she is intending on taking this idea further and hosting anything....and if she does, whether it'll be later on in the year, nearer Xmas....and saying that, because I don't actually join these things anymore, I would probably end up missing out on it anyways!

But anyways, my mind was racing by this point...I started to have lots of ideas...I wanted to make baubles...and I wanted to make them NOW...but what with Xmas and family stuff (lots of family stuff) December just wasn't the time for me to do it...and I wasn't going to wait for, or join an actual group swap...so I had to come up with a plan...

...and I did...

I decided to set myself a 'Bauble a Month Challenge'..something just for me to do.....no real pressures or deadlines etc. Just me...challenging myself to create one different individual bauble a month, throughout the 2012 year, using various techniques - some old tried and tested....some very new to me (yay woooo excited about the prospect of those ones!) and some pinched...errr cough cough...noooo inspired by other crafts people and artists I find along the way (and yes where poss I will give credit to those said people). By December I will have 12 pieces that will join together as one eclectic group of baubles to display on my tree for Xmas day. So that's it...that's the plan...that's the challenge...

Here are some of the bauble 'bases' I'll be transforming...plus making some completely from scratch...
...and here's the first bauble for 2012 -

BAUBLE A MONTH 2012 CHALLENGE -

'JANUARY BAUBLE'

This is my 'Origami Kusudama Ball Bauble'. Now, if you follow me on my FaceBook page you'll already be familiar with this item.....the origami flowers were something I covered on my Floral Fancies website under Brown Paper Origami Flower . When I started researching for ideas for baubles, I came across lots of images of the Kusudama ball using twelve individual flowers...and well....that just made me want to have a go and use it for my first challenge bauble....in fact I got sort of carried away this month and quite addicted to making them...in fact I've now got quite a few of them, all different colours and papers.....in fact I even went as far as to use a 'half' ball as an embellishment on a trinket box!...but this ones my favourite and the best I've made to date.

The flowers were made out of a double sided (printed both sides) paper, approx 200gsm so quite sturdy but it made nice crisp folds and creases and held it's shape well. The pattern already had a nice semi distressed design, but I did push it a tad bit further and took a sanding block to the edges to rough em up a little bit more and a teeny dab of Tim Holtz 'Old Paper' Distress Ink. First attempts at gluing the balls together was a bit of a failure...mainly because the previous, brown paper flowers I created, I used a glue tape pen to adhere them...which was easy and very quick to do...and so naturally did the same with this paper but it didn't stick too good and I had to go back to using a wet glue and this did add some considerable time into finishing it all off as it took longer to set. As I started assembling the flowers into a ball shape, I ran a length of wire through the centre (there naturally forms a tiny gap) to form into a hanging loop. Once dry, a co-ordinating ribbon was attached. It's surprising just how strong and sturdy the ball is once formed, so as long as you've used a decent glue, this isn't something that you'll worry shattering to pieces if it slips off the tree (or where ever you decide to hang it). Yes the paper may get a little battered around the edges...but if, like me, you've intended a distressed look all along....this will just add to it's charm!

NOTE - the glue I have been using in my papercrafting work is api's 'Crafter's Pick - Incredibly Tacky' glue. This is a low water based adhesive which means it's fast grab and fast dry, and it doesn't soak up into the paper, making it soggy and prone to stretching, ripping and wrinkling up. Not only non toxic, it's easy clean up, dries clear, and flexible so good for other materials...not just paper. I've used it on fabrics, wood, leather and glass...and it's supposed to be useful on some ceramics, plastic and metal too....but I've not tried those ones...yet.

api's is a US based company but you can purchase a variety of their adhesives, including the Incredibly Tacky version from UK stores....including

Fred Aldous - art and craft supplies

The Adhesive Products Inc - http://www.crafterspick.com/

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Now, I know this challenge probably isn't an original idea...there's so many different things out there...a photo a day, an ATC a month, a ring a day...etc etc etc there's probably someone somewhere already out there doing this very same thing too...but if it does inspire you to do a similar personal challenge...please by all means go ahead...and I'd love to see what you do (just don't get copying my baubles outright...please challenge yourself and be creative and come up with something new and different...that's what it's all about). Let me know how you get on.

And so....February Bauble...here we come!

And yes...I think I'm over my Kusudama addiction now.....because I'm pretty to addicted to something else at the moment that's possibly going to be included in a bauble in the coming months....

so stay tuned!

New links for recipes

2012-01-06T14:52:00.002Z

There aren't many recipes on my blog...yet! I do intend to add more because I love cooking and baking and love sharing recipes.

One thing that has happened is a number of requests by followers, for direct links to them..which actually I did have set up on the right hand side...but I'm guessing, seeings as they are in the listing for tutorials, they aren't easy to spot...

...so I've given them their own seperate list. It's still on the right hand side....just under the tutorials section.

Hope this helps!

Chocolate Brownies...and it's blowing a gale!

2012-01-05T14:56:00.002Z

Wow...we're certainly having a bit of a storm across Britain at the mo. Days of relentless rain and gales is causing damage and havoc for some. We've had a few trees downed in the nature reserve...thankfully not falling near the road, paths or onto cars and last night was a restless one with howls of wind that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and gales tore down the sides of the houses and threw debris up onto our windows and roof....not a peaceful quiet time at all! Thankfully no serious damage done and we do hope we've seen the last of the worst of it and calmer times are on the horizon. It's certainly been a time for staying indoors...well...certainly for me...but if you're venturing out, hang onto that hat, batten down the hatches and stay safe!

****

Last week I made some Chocolate Brownies and must say I was pretty pleased with the outcome...because to be honest I've always been rubish at baking them, always overcooking and never achieving that perfect balance of scrummy gooey inner and crispy crust outer. This might actually surprise you as I do a fair bit of baking and spent many years creating celebration cakes. It's not for the want of trying...that actual making cannot be any simpler..it's the baking bit that evades me...so I guess brownies have just always been my nemesis.

Maybe it's because I have gone through three different ovens (both gas and electric) in my house over the years so have never managed to settle and get used to a particular way of baking...maybe it's because I have a particular standard of how I like them to be...maybe it's because I'm Virgo and can be a tad obsessive over perfection...but I have a standard - THE most perfect brownie I ever ate was at the Victoria pub in Beeston, Nottingham during an annual CAMRA General Meeting...heavenly sticky chocolate devine creation that I haven't found equal to since (bought or baked)...so those have always been the standard (sadly their recipe is a secret one and refused to be parted with) and I've struggled to meet it..

...but this I'm happy to say is the closest I've got to it so far - one kindly given to me by my lovely friend Sarah.

NOTE - please note that oven makes/temps can vary and the times and temp stated in the recipe are standard and may have to be tweaked to suit yours. I used the exact temp but in a small half sized oven (electric but non fan) and had found I had to increase the cooking time by and extra 10 minutes.

CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

250g Butter
200g good quality milk chocolate (roughly chopped up)
80g Cocoa powder (unsweetened variety - NOT drinking chocolate powder)
65g Plain flour
1tsp Baking powder
360g Caster sugar (I used unrefined golden caster sugar)
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 180oC, grease and line a 20x20cm (8x8inch) square cake tin.

Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and sugar into a bowl and set aside. Gently melt butter and chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water (double boiler technique) and allow to cool slightly before mixing in the dry ingredients. Then beat in the eggs until you get a smooth glossy runny batter. Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake 25 mins. Check after this time. The cake will have risen slightly and be crusty on the edges but slightly underdone in the centre. A skewer inserted into the centre WILL NOT come out clean (if it does, the cake is overcooked). If you feel that the cake is still too underdone....return to the oven and bake for a further 5 mins, checking and continuing on in increments of 5 mins until you reach your desired consistency. Taking into account my oven, my brownies took an added 10 mins. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly, then remove from tin and cut into 16 squares. Dredge the top with icing sugar. Best served warm.

NOTE - Everyone has their own ideas of a perfect brownie...mine has to be crispy crusty on the outside but dense, slightly undercooked and fudgy looking inside. The cake will rise, then sink back down after taking out of the oven and will probably crack on the surface too....this I find very acceptable and adds to the rustic look and crunchy texture. These brownies are delicious eaten still warm, just baked, but I find they improve and become even more dense and fudgy the following day...and warm up a treat in the microwave. They are wonderful eaten as is, with a cuppa, or served warm with cream...or custard.

VARIATIONS - for extra richness you could substitute some of the milk chocolate for plain but I do find the dark cocoa powder more than does for this in the original recipe. I'd suggest you cook it in it's original form first then decide if you wish to tweak the mix to meet your own tastes. For extra crunch, stir some nuts into the mix prior to baking. I have used hazlenuts and pecans and can say both are delicious additions. If you up for a real chocolate hit, you could also throw in some added chocolate drops/chunks (white chocolate works very well)....or cover the baked top with a ganache or fudge frosting.

WARNING - contains many many calories...best not to think about it...eat just one square, give the rest away to your family who will love you forever...then go for a jog!

...and don't worry, you're not missing out as you'll be asked to make more, very soon after...so not long to wait until your next brownie treat!

Enjoy

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2011-12-23T19:04:00.004Z

My last post for the year for 2011 and it is to Wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Peaceful New Year.

Many thanks to you all for taking the time to pop by this Blog, read up and comment...it is all very much appreciated....by both myself and my little Tatty Button and her friends.

...and so, to end this post....I give you a little bit of general knowledge. Did you know that apparently most British Robins migrate to southern warmer climes at this time of year? they leave our Isles to escape what they believe is cold weather!...and the birds we see during winter and the Festive period are more than likely Robins that have migrated in from the Far Eastern countries such as Russia...to escape their very hostile cold temperatures....they must feel they are on a sunny holiday! So, if you see a little RedBreast on Christmas day, bid him a Merry Christmas in Russian lol! BTW - the photo I took of this little Robin above, was in the summer of 2009...so a very British little chap.

Takes cares and enjoy your holidays where ever you go, what ever you do!

xxx

Chocolate Marshmallow Fudge and Christmas favor name tags

2011-12-21T16:47:00.002Z

Well, that certain festive day is drawing close. Have you got your presents all wrapped, sent your cards and iced that cake yet?

I have to admit I'm pretty organized this year...which is pretty scary for me! probably due to the fact that Christmas is being spent with my family, at home in Birmingham this year....no panic packing of bags and trying to get things done a week or so in advance in order to head off to Worcester to spend the holidays with Clives mom. The meal this year is being held at my sisters and so I'm not having to cook much so it's a pretty laid back affair for me. We do share the cooking responsibilities though and this year I've been given the task of providing the sweet course so that's all fine and prepared in advance. I also make a Christmas cake for them every year. In the past these have been unusual, unique and highly decorative but this year it's simple but classy.

So, Christmas day will be a lazy morning for Clive and I, smoked salmon and scrambled egg breakfast with Bucks Fizz, open our presents to each other then tootle off to sisters place early afternoon (thankfully she only lives around the corner) for the traditional mahoosive feast of turkey and beef.

There are eight of us sharing Christmas this year and my sister is really doing a grand job of a table setting so she asked if I could make some name tags for each place setting...

...and seeings as I am in charge of sweets I decided to incorporate some chocolate truffles as Xmas favors - Irish Cream flavoured for the adults, milk choc for the youngsters. All bagged up in silver and black to co-ordinate with her choice of colour scheme, tags formed using Spellbinders dies and each name cut out in fancy font in card using my good old Cricut Create and Gypsy. Pretty silver cord and a tiny silver bauble finished off each package. She's indicated a few things she's got planned for the design....so can't wait to see the table in all it's glory on the day!

Anyways...onto the main reason for my blog post. A few weeks ago I was given a recipe for easy cook fudge...one made with chocolate and marshmallow, that I was assured is yummy and takes minutes to make and no faffing about with sugar thermometers...so how could I not want to try that!

So today I did just that. Very sorry but I can't credit who's recipe this is...it was passed on from a friend...from her friend and we think it might be something off a tv cooking programme but can't be sure. I did a bit of googling to see if I could work out who...but no joy...so if anyone knows the answer, please let me know.

INGREDIENTS

70g Butter

300g Soft Brown Sugar

125g Evaporated Milk

225g Marshmallows

300g Milk Chocolate (cut into small pieces)

75g Dark Chocolate (cut into small pieces)

Prepare an 8inch cake tin by lining with greaseproof paper.

Place butter, sugar and evaporated milk into a large pan and melt gently over a low heat. When all has dissolved, stir in the Marshmallows. Boil for 5 mins, making sure the marshmallow has dissolved. Working quickly, take immediately off the heat and stir in the chocolate. Leave 1 minute then stir to completely combine and ensure the chocolate has melted (please note this mixture, at this moment is VERY hot so yes the gooey choccy mass looks so tempting that you want to stick your finger in to try some...PLEASE don't you'll burn yourself very badly).

Quickly pour into the prepared tin and allow to set for approximately 3 hours. Then remove from tin and paper, cut into approx 2cm squares and box/bag up as required.

And there you have it....soooo simple to make and I can honestly tell you it is ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS....smooth, velvety and squidgy (because I have relented and munched on some...but then I have to do this and taste it otherwise I wouldn't be able to give you the recipe if it was all horrible and nasty tasting lol!). A dusting of icing sugar was all that was left to make them a little festive.

Enjoy......now go finish that present wrapping!

TATTY TUESDAY No3...PART 2!

2011-11-29T13:35:00.001Z

A TATTY TUESDAY TO YOU!

Todays I'm posting a follow on from TT No3s post about Altered Stamp Elements (see HERE )

As I promised , I have completed a piece using this technique, and have made a rosette xmas hanging ornament using the closed umbrella stamp.

ALTERED STAMP ELEMENTS - ROSETTE XMAS ORNAMENT

TOOLS REQUIRED - (to make a double sided ornament)

STAMP - closed umbrella image from TB14 plate Tatty Button Bits and Pieces
Black Stazon ink
Acrylic block for applying stamp image
Red Cardstock (I used textured card)
Green Cardstock (I used textured card)
Gold Mirri cardstock
Spellbinders Nestabilities die S4293 Lacey Circles
Spellbinders Shapeabilities die S4340 Create-a-Flake Three
2 wooden buttons
Red Grosgrain ribbon 1.5cm wide and 36cm long
Red&White Bakers Twine
Old coarse bristled artists paintbrush or blending tool
Glue (Glue gel and tape works best)
Die cutting machine
Scissors

Following the tutorial set out for the Altered Stamp Elements I stamped out 16 umbrella images onto red card, and 16 umbrella images onto green card (remembering to leave out the handle part) then cut out the images and curved all the pieces to create dimemsion. These were then set aside.

Using my Cuttlebug die cutting machine and the Gold mirri card, I cut out two each of the listed dies - using the second largest lacy circle (9cm approx diameter) and the mid sized snowflake. The two largest circles were glued back to back and the edges slightly aged using black Stazon ink and the brush. The two snowflakes were also inked but not glued together.

The red grosgrain ribbon was folded in half and glued across the large die cut circle so that it lay each side...forming a loop at the top and the two ends at the bottom. A length of bakers twine was then layed across the ribbon in the same fashion, and secured in place. Black Stazon ink was brushed gently across the ribbon to age it.

The stamped and cut out pieces were then sorted out into two equal piles, each containing 8 red and 8 green parts and assembled and glued into full circle rosettes of alternating colours - one each side of the gold circle.

The small die cut snowflakes were then glued to the centre of each rosette, topped off with a wooden button tied with extra offcuts of the bakers twine.

So, there you go! This piece was constructed double sided so that it can be hung up...as both sides will be seen but you could easily make just one side...and perhaps use it for a card topper...or even an embellishment/tag on a present.

TATTY TUESDAY - No 3

2011-11-22T17:00:00.002Z

A TATTY TUESDAY TO YOU!

Have you ever wanted to buy a particular rubber stamp...but hesitated because you don't think you'll ever use it enough to justify it's purchase price?...and that it may be only fit for one particular purpose?

Well, todays Tatty Tuesday might help you to reconsider the designs and look beyond what the eye initially sees. Sometimes that stamp can offer you a little more scope and versatility than you first realise and enable you to use it in projects and designs beyond what the original design intended.

As someone interested in altered art, I always try to keep an open mind about materials and items that can be reused in ways other than their original purpose and I also try to look at rubber stamp designs in that same way too. I like to take elements from designs and stamp them out to see what else I can do with them and increase their potential (and so make them more cost effective). Although I know other crafters do this...I don't really think there is a particular term for this technique...

...so I have decided to call it ALTERED STAMP ELEMENTS.

I'm using three Tatty Button designs to prove the point and using them in the form of paper piecing (ie cutting out the stamped images and piecing them together to form other shapes. Some stamp designs might allow you to stamp and group the elements directly together without the need for cutting out and layering up....but it really depends on what you have available and how easy it is to ink up and isolate the various sections.....clear stamps are best for this as you can see where to position the stamp.

I'd also like to point out that the fist two designs were initially discovered and used by Karen Lines and Sue Wilson for Creative Expressions.

TUTORIAL No3 - ALTERED STAMP ELEMENTS (using paper piecing)

TOOLS REQUIRED -

I'm not completing a full project piece in this tutorial...rather I'm just showing you how to reuse elements from stamps and using three Tatty Button designs as examples in basic forms...therefore basic tools required. It will then hopefully help you look at all the stamp designs YOU own and see what you can take elements from and incorporate into your own artwork.

For my examples I used

Main stamp images - for this tutorial I used TB14 (Tatty Button Bits and Pieces), TB3 (Rainy Days), and TB8 (Pip)
Paper and/or cardstock - coloured and patterned
Ink (in this case Ranger Distress Ink - Black Soot)
Acrylic blocks for applying the stamps
Scissors

TUTORIAL -

First, stamp out your full image, in black ink, onto a spare piece of white paper...so that you can see all the details clearly. Then look carefully to see if there are any areas that could be isolated to be used to create a different design. The closed umberella design above has potential with the main triangular shaped section to be used in multiples and pieced togther to form shapes. The handle section is not required.

Ink up the stamp and multiple stamp out onto your chosen paper. I am using a simple plain coloured piece so that you can see the designs more clearly as we progress with the tutorial. If you can avoid inking up the areas that are not required, all the better, but because in this particular technique we are cutting out the shapes, it is not so important - the unwanted sections will be cut away.

Cut out all the pieces...depending on your design and size of and personal preference, use the cutting tool of your choice.

Now the fun begins as you start piecing the seperate cut out shapes together. I always stamp and cut out more pieces than I think I will need....in order to allow extra to experiment with - further cutting up, or bending, folding and reshaping.

This particular piece can be placed side by side to start forming a fan shape.

7 pieces will allow you to create a half circle - or fully opened out fan.

14 pieces creates a full circle which has the potential to be made into a flower - just add a decorative centre. Each individual piece can act as a petal and you could use as many or as few as you want....and even layer up on top of each other to create a decoupaged flower effect!

Further dimension can be created by gently curving the pieces....or scoring and folding along the lines.

A mixture of flat and shaped pieces can be used with interesting effect...such as laying out alternatively...or even layering a curved piece ontop of a flat piece.

They can be used to form wings or tails....

...such as for this simple butterfly.

So now you can see how an umbrella shape can be recreated into a flower, a butterfly or fan....start looking at what can YOUR stamps can do for you.

Talking of butterflys...here's another...using a section from another Tatty Button Stamp....

...using the open umbrella section from this full Tatty Button figure!

This simple little fantasy flower....

....is actually an ear from this Pip image...stamped and cut out to form seperate petals.

Not all pieces will require cutting out and reforming. You might have stamps with areas that could be used to create patterns and texture...and used like a background stamp.

I hope this has given you food for thought.

...oh, and I will be creating a project using this technique in the coming weeks...so stay tuned.

Tatty Ta Ta for now!

Featured Artist NICKI MACRAE and Hot Products

2011-11-14T21:55:00.001Z

Hiya Blog Readers...hope you're all well.

Today's post is a combination of Hot Product and Highlighted Artist.

ARTIST - NICKI MACRAE

Nicki is a wonderful artist from the Highlands of Scotland, whos work I want to shout about and share with you today...not only because I have got to know her fairly well through Facebook but because she is one genuinely darned talented lady!

'Moine Thrust'*

Ranging from representative and figurative to abstract in the form of acrylic on canvas and mixed media on paper, Nicki's passion for colour and texture is very evident and each piece. Be it an impressive standing stone, delicate pastel portraits, or energetic abstracts, each work conveys this passion, and contain energy and emotion by the bucket load...and has a style that I can only dream of having!

'Babywearing'*

(If I had to pick out a favourite piece I'd struggle because I find so much to admire in every one...so please do not ask me to do so LOL!)

'Close'*

Nicki lists Kandinsky, Katy Moran and Ben Nicholson amongst other artists as the influence to her expressive abstracts and also has several key areas of interest in subject matter - the Scottish Highland landscapes and Pre-History of the British Isles. A fascination for all things ancient and archaeological including standing stones and stone circles and the relationship of modern people with these places, coupled with a interest in painting outdoors "allowing weather to become part of my artworks and allowing more limited practical constraints to shape them" led Nicki to recently complete an 18 month tour around Scotland and the UK and produce a series of painting of megaliths, stones and prehistoric remains...which have been reproduced in a beautiful calender for 2012 that is available to buy now (see links at bottom of post).

'Invershin Stone II'*

She also very generously gives time and produces work for a charity that is close to her heart - childrens brain tumour charity Camille's Appeal and her work is featured on their 2011 Christmas card...a delightful design that will appeal to all ages (and a quality card - I know because I have some!). If you want to help raise money and awareness, then you can get hold of the cards via ebay....hurry though, stock is moving fast and only available until 10th December. I'm also on the understanding that the original work will also be donated to sell off and raise further funds for this worthy cause. So, not only a talented artist but a generous warm hearted and very kind caring woman too.

'Invershin Stone I'*

Check out her website and you'll see that Nicki has a wide variety of completed original paintings for sale, plus prints, calenders and cards and she is also happy to discuss and take on commissions. Testimonials from customers show she is truly professional and in tune with their needs. She has also exhibited her work across Scotland and most recently participated in the Trees For Life Charity Exhibition. Details of current and upcoming shows, plus PCDs of her work can be found on her website. PLEASE NOTE - For shipping outside of the UK, please contact Nicki direct before placing an order...so that she can give a posting quotation.

HOT PRODUCT(S)

So, now to the SIS Hot Product...which is actually not one item but a selection of affordable artwork that Nicki has gathered together just at the right time to provide some very nice ideas for Christmas gifts. I urge you to check out the facebook page photo album for details and buy now....she is a sought after artist and this collection of work is causing much interest with all pieces priced under £100 for originals...great stuff!

Nicki's Affordable Art Selection includes the following -

'Floral Note, Small Red'*

'Hoary Old Stones XV'*

'Connections'*

'Close to My Heart'*

'Oldshoremore BeachII'*

For full details, sizes and prices, please check out the Affordable Art page on Facebook.

*Please Note that all images have been used with the kind permission of Nicki Macrae and are copyright of Nicki Macrae. No image in this blog post should be copied and reused in any format whatsoever. Many thanks.

LINKS

Nicki MacRae website

Nicki MacRae Facebook Page

Nicki is also on Twitter and has a Blog, details and links available via her website.

Camille's Appeal Homepage

Camille's Appeal 2011 Christmas Cards on Ebay

TEDDY BEAR/NEWBORN CARD

2011-10-18T11:42:00.000+01:00

No Tatty Tuesday today folks....but a quick post about a card I made yesterday.

My next door neighbours had a new addition to their family this weekend...a little baby girl and we're absolutely delighted for them! They had decided not to be told of the sex of this, their second child during pregnancy, so getting a card ready for them in advance would have been tricky....I didn't have any premade in stock so it was a case of waiting until afterwards to make one.

We were away over the weekend so didn't hear of the news until yesterday so I grabbed a few card and paper pieces to put together a simple design in traditional pink white colours....topped with a hand-drawn image.

The basic main card is pink, slightly textured card stock with a matted layered silver and white on top. The white section was then embossed (CuttleBug Swiss Dots Plate). This was done in two sections - the top two thirds embossed, then the card turned around and the lower section embossed partially to leave a plain strip inbetween. This was neatened off with two scored/embossed lines (I just used a normal scoring board and ball tool for this part). The whole idea of embossing the white card was to create texture but this could have looked too heavy had it been done all over...so the break in the lower half not only creates interest, but divides the card so that top half creates a balanced area for the 'topper' and the plain strip provides an area for the ribbon and bow to be placed. Remember if you're doing this - measure the width of the ribbon first before embossing, so you have a nice correctly sized border to set it into. I attached pink organza ribbon before layering up and adhering the the main card stock.

The main topper image was a circle of white card (die cut using Spellbinders Standard Circles LG - S4114) which I also ran back through the machine to emboss the edge. I then hand drew a teddy bear into the center, and using scraps of pink card that matched the main cardstock I cut out tiny pieces to form a decoupaged bow for the teddy's neck. To frame this drawing I then die cut out three pieces of pink card (Spellbinders Lacey Circles S4293) all the same size which I layered up, slightly off setting the scalloped edges which I then bent upwards to form a frilly edged look. I've done this technique on quite a few cards recently and think it's a very pretty effect for girly cards.

And that's it....job done and I hope they like it! It is quite a simple design, quick and easy to put together, but looks effective and slightly more complex with the lacy frame. I held off from adding any sentiment to the front of the card as I felt the whole thing was pretty well balanced with the ribbon being just enough embellishment...and I think it's pretty obvious what the cards intentions are.

Oh...and BTW...the real Teddy in the last photo...it's most definately NOT a gift for the baby...he just kindly offered to model the card for me....

....he's mine...all mine!

TATTY TUESDAY - No2

2011-10-04T01:41:00.001+01:00

A TATTY TUESDAY TO YOU!

Welcome to the second Tatty Tuesday...and it's another tutorial for you!

TUTORIAL No2 - Embossing Powder & Distress Ink resist stamping technique -

PIP HEART HANGER

This is one of my favourite ink effects, using layers of colours and stamp images it looks complex but is actually quite simple to achieve as long as you follow the proceedure in the correct order. I use this technique alot for making tags and hangers out of mountboard....the card is heavyduty enough to take numerous applications of inks and heat from the embossing.

TOOLS REQUIRED -

Main stamp image (for this tutorial I am using 'Pip' Tatty Button stamp product TB8)
Flower embellishment stamp (from 'Tatty's Flowers' stamp plate product TB16)
TWO large background stamp plates (need to be large enough to cover the whole area of the shape you're stamping onto, and of good contrast in design - I am using Paperartsy script and The Artistic Stamper hearts designs)
Heart shape piece of card ( I have used artists mountboard with the shape cut from a Spellbinders Nestability die - Classic Heart (largest size))
small scrap of white paper
white card
sheets of plain copier paper or brown wrapping paper
Black ink - Stazon or similar permanent waterproof variety
Ranger Distress Inks - Black Soot, Tattered Rose, Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany, Tea Dye and Walnut Stain.
Clear embossing ink
Clear embossing powder
Heat gun
Iron (non steam)
craft scissors and/or knife
Ink applicator pads
Heatproof work surface and craft sheet/mat
Vintage ribbon/American Seam Binding in ivory
fine spritzer/mister filled with clean water
2 silver coloured hat pins (with red bead ends) or similar embellishments (optional)
Glues, foam tape
Hole punch
Black satin cord

NOTE ABOUT MOUNTBOARD - Picture Frame Mount board is a great material to use for this type of project. It generally has a smooth paper coated side and a slightly more textured other and it takes inks well. It comes in various colours but a light shade is advisable when using pale ink colours. I wanted to use the Spellbinder heart design die but this is obviously not thick enough to completely cut out the shape in the mountboard. Using a combination of plates and shims I ran the m/board and die through my CuttleBug to make an impression which I then followed through with cutting out using a craft knife. The edges were also gently sanded with a fine grade sandpaper to smooth any rough edges. If you have different die and/or die cutting system then please refer to manufacturing instructions.

NOTE ABOUT BACKGROUND STAMPS - The effectiveness of the resist technique depends on the designs of the stamps selected. The first stamp plate used will be with the black ink and it's a good idea to go with a fine detail such as script. The second stamp plate will be used with the clear ink and embossing powder and player the major part in the resist technique....so it needs to be a design with decent large solid plain areas that are not too fussy. Because of the romantic style of this heart hanger, I selected a fine detail romantic script and a nice repeat pattern of small plain hearts.

NOTE ABOUT EMBOSSING POWDER - The quality of the clear powder used is not that important, as long as it's reasonably fine. It is used purely as a resist or mask and you are going to be actually removing the enamel so the glossy shine isn't required! I use a lot of embossing powders and over time alot of it gets dirty and 'contaminated' with bits and imperfections so I keep this is a separate jar to be used especially for these types of techniques. Do not attempt this technique using a coloured embossing powder...even though you are melting it back off, it is highly probable that some colour will remain visible and can ruin your project.

TUTORIAL-

The first thing you need to do is make a mask of your main stamp image. Using any ink, stamp out the image onto thin plain paper (I use cheap photo copier paper). It isn't necessary to achieve a good or perfect image, just as long as you can see the design. A border is required around this image so you need to work out how deep you wish this to be and roughly mark it out with a pencil.

Tear or cut around the image remembering to leave the border....I prefer to tear as the edges are much softer.

The mask is now all ready to use...but set it aside for now.

The next step is to start colouring up your heart shape using inks. These will be the base colours.

The base colours need to be the lightest shades. The Tattered Rose and Old Paper colours are applied with the Ink applicator pads....the pink shade covers most of the centralised area with the beige tones concentrated around the edges. If you wish to create a more distressed effect you can now splatter the inked up shape with water and then dry to achieve a dappled effect. The mountboard I have used already has a mottled effect so I leave mine at this stage.

The paper mask is now placed in the section where you want the final image to be stamped (in this case to the left and some of the image will hang off the side). This mask will prevent further inks from covering this area and leaves the pale pink base coat free to help highlight the final stamp image.

Ink up your first background stamp plate (script) with black Stazon ink and with the mask in place, stamp up over the whole of the heart shape. In the photo above the mask has been partially removed to show you how this area remains free of the script stamping. Also not that I have not achieved a perfect stamp image and it's slightly patchy and irregular...this is ok as a distressed uneven look is required and when further ink colours etc have been applied it will not be that noticeable anyway.

It is now important in this next stage to get all your preparations ready beforehand. Reposition the mask exactly over the unstamped area. Then gather together your second background stamp plate, clear embossing ink, clear embossing powder and heat gun. Card coloured with distress inks tends to become extra static and you will find the powder sticks to areas you do not want...to prevent this, you can blot and then heat set the ink...then treat it with anti static before you go onto the next stage.

Ink up your second background stamp plate (hearts) with clear embossing ink, then with the mask still in place, stamp the design over the whole of the heart shape. Remove the mask, then working quickly, cover the entire shape with clear embossing powder. Carefully shake off the excess and heat set the remaining powder using a heat gun.

You will now have clear embossed heart shapes overlaying the black inked script stamp section. Allow this to cool before proceeding on with the next step.

Taking your darker shades of distress inks (Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany & Walnut Stain) start applying the colours over the stamped up sections of the heart...avoiding the majority of the area which was masked out (this area needs to be kept as light a colour as possible). The stamped and embossed sections now start playing their part as a resist - the darker shades do not colour these areas, exposing the paler colour underneath.

A closer look at the mask and ink resisted areas.

The next stage involves you removing the embossed ink...the glossy enamel resist is no longer required as it will now hinder further applications of ink colour to these areas. Prepare a flat heatproof work area and set your iron to a medium heat. If you are using a domestic steam iron then the water tank must be empty of water and the steam generator turned off. Using a specialist craft iron is advisable and irons used for this and any other craft technique should not be used for domestic ironing or else there may be contamination, damage and staining of the clothes. I have an old domestic iron I use for my artwork as I can cover larger areas...but I also use a smaller craft iron for small detailed work. Neither of these are used for ironing clothes!

Place the mountboard heart on the flat heatproof worksurface and cover the whole piece with either plain copier/blotting paper or brown paper. Then press the iron over this for a few seconds. The embossed enamel will melt and absorb into the paper. Do not hold the iron over the piece for too long....keep stopping and checking your progress. Recover with a clean piece of paper and re-iron if not all of the enamel has been removed the first time around.

The above photo shows how the enamel has been absorbed into the paper. Usually you can see this happening as a greasy image begins to show through the paper as you iron.

You now Black ink up and stamp your main image (Pip) into the area that was previously masked. Having the border helps you to centralise the image. If you are colouring in the image, you need to consider the type of ink you are stamping with. You can use Stazon if you are using distress inks....but if you are using alcohol based inks or pens (such as Promarkers) you need to use a dye based ink such as Memento.

Using Distress Inks, start shading and highlighting areas...I have re-enhanced the edges of the hearts using the darker shades, including Black Soot which has created dimension and defined the shapes. The edge of the mountboard heart shape has also been inked up.

Close up photo of the added dimension created by using inks to shade areas around the hearts.

The heart shape is now complete of stamping and colouring and the next step is to create and place embellishments onto the hanger.

Ink up the flower stamp image with Black Stazon and make multiple images onto plain white card stock. You will need three flower images.

Cut out the flower shapes using fine detail/decoupage scissors.

Then colour/ink up each one....using Tattered Rose, Fired Brick and Aged Mahogany.

The Flowers will be layered up and the top one will be the lightest colour (T Rose). You can now add more dimension by shading in with darker ink colours and even over-stamping the bottom two flowers with the script stamp.

Distress Ink colour can be applied in small detail by using Cut-n-Dry nibs (Ranger).

White edges of the cut card can also be coloured in with black ink using these nibs as the fine point can get right down into the corners.

The next stage is to custom colour your ribbon so that it co-ordinates with the heart. Vintage/Seam Binding ribbon is excellent for taking on colour via Distress Inks, achieving a distressed worn look. This will be formed into a bow to be attached to the heart....so work out how big you wish this to be and cut a length accordingly.

Using the non stick craft sheet, smudge ink directly from the ink pad onto the surface - start with the lightest shade first (Tattered Rose) then lightly spritz over this with water. Scrunch up the ribbon in your hand then roll it into the diluted ink patch, scrunching and patting until you get the colour coverage and effect you're after. You can dry it quickly with a heat gun or allow it to dry naturally before adding further colour. This technique creates a faded tatty look but if you want a more deeper even colour coverage you will need to apply more ink...or even apply the ink directly from the pad to the fabric.

This is the first base colour. If you wish to stop here, then do so....otherwise repeat the step above using a darker shade of ink.

Distress Ink - Fired Brick and a touch of Black Soot has been used to create a deeper colour with more depth. Form and secure this ribbon into your bow shape.

It's now time to assemble the piece together.

Layer up the Flowers using dimensional foam tape (or gel glue) with the ribbon bow and hat pins (if using)...place to the right of the main stamped image. I have further enhanced the heart theme by punching out a tiny red heart and positioning it into the centre of the flower. Beads, brad or a button could equally do well here. Punch a hole top center of the mountboard heart and thread through the black silk cord.

The completed Pip Heart Hanger using Distress Ink Stamp resist technique.

Here are some examples using the same technique but as Tags, using different stamps images and ink colours.

I hope you've enjoyed todays Tatty Tuesday tutorial....if you decide to give this project a go, please let me know how you get on.

Some light gardening.

2011-10-03T22:37:00.002+01:00

Weather wise it's been an interesting end to September and start of October. After weeks of rain, wind and decreasing temperatures we were all battening down the hatches in prep for autumn...and then we were forewarned of snow for October so we then thought we were going to bypass autumn altogether and go all for the winter stuff!...

...but then last week we end up with a complete turnaround and a mini 'Indian Summer'! I mean, come on what the eek happened? It's like someone 'up there' decided to feel sorry for our lack of a real summer (typical Blighty really) and gave us one last chance to try and gain some sort of a tan to our pasty little skins. Apparently we have had the hottest Sept/Oct since weather records began!

It's all been a little weird. What with the cold spot, all the plants, trees and even wildlife were getting ready for winter, then with the sun coming out again for one last play day, they kinda started getting as confused as us. Leaves have been falling enmasse, autumn colours are a plenty but flowers have been hanging on in there for grim death and the swifts and swallows that gathered ready to begin their winter migration, delayed their departure...I've even heard of some nesting and hatching another brood!

Sadly for me however, while most peeps welcomed in the warmth...I welcomed in Snotsville with a real humdinger of a cold fluey type virus so while most donned teeshirts and shorts and sunbathed on the grass, I was mostly indoors wearing jumpers, sneezing, spluttering and shivering like it was -10 degrees! So would you credit it....I missed most of the good weather...doh!

Over the weekend, recuperating from the dreg ends of the illness, I finally ventured outside to try and grab the last of the rays (you never know in this country when you gonna lose it...so it's a case of make the most while you can) and just check over the back garden to see what was going on. Clive had been finishing off the new designed and planted front garden and had been keeping a few things ticking over in the veg patches in the back one for me but was too wary of doing any 'damage' to the flowering section of the garden so had left that to me. I went out prepared to do a fair bit of tidying up, deadheading etc but found the usual plants that are now ready to be pruned back and put to bed were in fact still flowering so there wasn't that much to do.....and in the end I spent most of my time lazing on the patio, wandering around taking a few shots and generally just enjoying the colours of the garden in some amazing very late summer sunlight.

The Rudbekia and Garlic Chives are still flowering strongly...giving vital last minute nectar to bees and hoverflies....I'm really liking how this corner of the garden is looking at this moment.

Sunflowers are finishing but I like to keep them in situ to dry out and provide birds with the seeds (and hopefully some will self seed for me too). The once brilliant yellow petals are fading to a most beautiful pale lemon and there's something so wonderfully vintagy about it all, they flutter in the gentle breeze like ethereal fairy wings....so pretty!

I was amazed by the number...and size of the garden spiders...their webs were strung up everywhere! I just love their markings...even more apparent in the brilliant sunshine against a clear blue sky.

This guy, nestled within one of my ornamental acer trees, was just about the largest I've ever seen in my garden. I couldn't get close enough with the camera to convey to you just how big it is...but believe me...it is big!

The pyracanthus is heaving in berries this year...the best crop so far....which makes me wonder about whether there is any truth in that old wives tale about a heavy berry crop meaning a heavy winter ahead as the plant provides as much food as possible for the wildlife. This particular shrub is generally attacked in earnest by Blackbirds...and we have the odd Thrush that visits too so I do hope they make the most of this bounty.

As I sat for a moment on the patio, I noticed another little critter sunbathing on the side of a terracotta pot. Despite the tiny size of our garden, we get many grasshoppers and crickets so I am used to hearing their 'songs'...so was surprised at how quiet this one was. On closer inspection however, I noticed he was one legged!...and also looking a bit battered and sorry for itself. These insects generate their noise by rubbing the legs together very very quickly so it was quite sad to see this one in such a state.

If only they could talk...I wonder just what happened to this poor chap. A bird attack?...or maybe an escape from one of the many frogs and toads that hide amongst my plants? How badly hurt was it and how much longer had it got? Such a shame but also a wonderful moment for me to marvel in it's amazing intricate markings and exoskeleton formation.

The gorgeous sunlight really did the acer tree leaves proud. One tree with colours ranging from the palest lemon to honey, burnt sugar and rust red...stunning!

When the sun is behind the dried teasel heads you get fantastic silhouettes against the cloudless blue sky....

....the structure of these gigantic majestic plants never ceases to amaze me.

I planted out Cyclamen this year...their flower heads are just the sweetest things and doing very well!

We've still got strawberry plants in flower! I wonder if I'll manage to get a berry from this one?

We've also been introducing some native wild flowers into the garden to encourage more insects. The Hoverflies have loved this one...

...but the Garlic Chive is the definite favourite and you get swarms around this plant. It's still in flower and looking stunning at the moment. I grow it more as an ornamental than as a herb.

I don't often put in bedding plants, but had a few gaps in the front of borders this year so stuck in a few shop bought Gazanias...which have flowered their socks off...like cute mini sunflowers...they are so happy looking you can't not look at them and not smile!

One tree that has certainly not known what to do with itself is my Contorted Hazel....the leaves are definitely turning brown and dropping....but it also has catkins which we don't usually see until the start of the new year. I also found some hazelnuts on the ground which is must have sneakily developed this year...a first for this tree!

This is Clive's plant! A couple of weeks ago we were out buying plants for the front garden when he happened across this pretty little thing and asked if we could put it in our garden...it's not often he takes after a plant but with this one he was smitten. It's sweet little lily type flowers are so pretty I couldn't say no either and we've made room for it near to the patio so we can sit out and enjoy it's intricate design and patterning.

The bees love it too!

One job I couldn't ignore was to sweep up the fallen leaves on the lawn...and I also noticed a vast number of feathers strewn about too...whether a bird had been overpreening in the Silver Birch that overhangs...or something more sinister had happened I'll never know, but they decorated my garden like delicate angels ornaments.

The veggies haven't been too bad...but we've had a bad year for tomatoes...nothing has ripened and I really don't think we're going to get enough sun on these ones now...I'm thinking it's time for some fried green tomatoes....or maybe chutney?

I love it when I can photograph a rudbekia flower with a dark backdrop...the colour just pops!

The Fennel is overtaking the herb garden...thankfully the mint can't do the same as it's kept contained in a pot!

...and finally...

...next years plans! We had a number of reclaimed bricks left over from the wall that was built in the front garden. Not one to waste something like this I'll be using them to line the paths between my raised veg beds. For now they're stacked up bu the waterbutt and the nooks and crannies have already been made the home of a few frogs. The flat terracotta tiles might just make it into an art project!

MUFFIN MONDAY - Blueberry & Apple with Cinnamon dusting.

2011-09-26T14:08:00.002+01:00

Those of you who follow me on Facebook will know that now and again I have a Muffin Monday...a morning where I bake up a few muffins. I LOVE baking, I miss making my celebration cakes but those, these days, are an absolute no go so little cakes, muffins and biscuits fill the void....and my house with delicious aromas to set me up for a start to the week of artwork. Sometimes it's a mega day when I've baked for a request or party, sometimes it's just a half dozen or so that are often experiments with ingredients.

Muffins, in my opinion, are just the best things to make...so quick and as easy with the dry ingredients thrown into one bowl, the wet into another...then chucked all together to form a lumpy bumpy mess that then fills up the tins and transforms in the oven into golden delicious treats in 25mins or so. No slaving over creaming up butters and sugars, no worrying over eggs splitting the mixtures...and as long as you make sure the ingredients are measured out correctly (it is a baking science still afterall) and you do not overmix...you're onto a foolproof bake...and that's my kinda baking!

This morning Clive asked if I'd mix up a batch of blueberry muffins. We've had a great crop this year off our tiny little potted blueberry bush that sits by the kitchen door and picked off some more fresh ripend berries yesterday. We don't tend to use these berries for cakes as most tend to go into breakfast museli (or my mouth depending on how slow I walk from garden to kitchen, LOL) but we had a small bowlful left over that I did intending on freezing...but muffins won.

The problem, however, was that I knew there wasn't quite enough berries to make up a batch so the initial idea was to split the ingredients in half and make the usual choc chip ones too....but then when I spied a large lonesome apple sitting in the fruit basket and an idea popped into my head....why not do a berry and apple mix!

So it was out with the chocolate bit and in with a slightly more healthy option...I'll save them for some cookies at a later date!

Anyways, I've never done this particular mix of fruit before so it was going to be a new experience. I reckoned the sweet crunch of the apple with the soft bite of the berry would go alright but the dilema I faced was whether to add spices (most apple based muffins I do I add cinnamon or sweet mixed spices). I worried the spices would overpower the blueberry so decided to try without...and just add a drop of vanilla extract instead.

Now, I tend to work off a basic plain muffin recipe and alter it depending on what additional ingredients I add...the liquid ingredients ie the milk measurement is what tends to alter. If I'm baking citrus flavoured ones I'll use the squeezed juices as part of the milk volume....if fresh juicy berries, fruits and vegetables are used (such as apples, blackberries and rhubarb) they release liquid into the batter and so the milk content is reduced....on the other hand dried fruits absorb liquids so a little more milk is added. I guess because I've been baking these for so long and am used to the particular ingredients I use I get a feel for when the batter is right. So, in this case, using apples meant the milk content was reduced slightly.

The resulting muffins (yes I have just had one as my 'elevenses') have come out light, fluffy and delicate in flavour...totally yummy and perfect as an afternoon treat with a cup of tea. The blueberry apple combination is wonderful and I'm so glad I held off from the spices...just a tiny dusting of cinnamon icing sugar over the baked and cooled muffins was just all that was needed.....

....so here's the recipe....have fun baking....

enjoy!

BLUBERRY & APPLE MUFFINS (makes 10-12 standard size)

10 oz (280g) plain flour
3 teaspoons (15ml) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4-5 oz caster sugar
1 egg
6 floz milk
3 floz vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (optional but recommended)
5 oz combination of whole blueberries and peeled, cored & chopped apple

topping
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon icing sugar

1. Preheat oven to 190-200oC (375-400oF), Gasmark 5-6
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar
3. In another bowl (or large jug) measure out the milk & oil, gently beat in the egg and stir in the vanilla extract.
4. Pour all of the liquid mix into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. The batter will be lumpy but should have no visable areas of dry flour.
5. Gently fold in the apple and blueberries taking care not to over mix or crush the fruit.
6. Spoon into prepared muffin cups and bake 20-25mins until lightly browned and there is a 'spring back' when gently pressed with a finger.
7. Mix together the cinnamon and icing sugar and use to lightly dust the muffin tops once baked and cooled.
8. EAT!

TATTY TUESDAY

2011-09-06T11:35:00.001+01:00

A TATTY TUESDAY TO YOU!

Well....I was beginning to think I wasn't going to be able to say that today as there was a bit of a hiccup this morning with all my Virgin internet, tv and phone connection down (a localised fault) which they did not anticipate fixing until much later today...So I really thought my website and blog work plans for today were all down the spout....but the guys at V have sorted it out pretty darn quick and were all now back on track...whooohooo.

So that means I can now.....

Welcome you to the first of my Tatty Tuesday posts!

I've decided to dedicate this day of the week to showing you a piece of work or craft tutorial using one of The World of Tatty Button products I have helped design with Creative Expressions . It won't be every week...but it will always be on a Tuesday....so I hope you log in and find it of interest! Check out the listings and fast direct links to each Tatty Tuesday post in the right hand sidebar...saves you scrolling through loads of older posts if you're trying to find a specific one or revisiting a previous tutorial.

As many of you will know, The World of Tatty Button is adapted from original pencil drawings and when the range was first launched back in February I made a couple of card examples to demonstrate how you could use the rubber stamp images to re-create that original hand drawn look and it has proved to be of great interest with a number of you asking how exactly it's done....

....so to kick start off the first Tatty Tuesday this will be the first tutorial. You will be surprised how simple it is to do and I think it's a nice aid to those who believe that they cannot draw (although I believe EVERYONE can draw) and will help boost confidence for those who struggle to draw images from scratch as it gives a starting point outline and hints for shaded areas....and the tools needed couldn't be more simple....just paper, stamp image, ink and a pencil. With practice you'll get the hang of it and you'll be drawing and shading with ease and putting your own unique drawing style to images. Then you can start incorporating these stamped and drawn in images into your cards and craft projects.

TUTORIAL No1 - The stamp and hand drawn image.

TOOLS REQUIRED -

Tatty Button rubber stamp image (I am using the Tatty Button stamp product TB1), plus acrylic block.
A pale grey coloured ink pad (I am using Tsukineko VersaColor in Chateau Grey No.83)
Good quality white paper/card stock
Soft Graphite drawing pencil, ideally a 2 or 3B. Minimum HB will do initially...but no harder....with a decent, but not too sharp point.
Rubber/Eraser to correct any mistakes.

A NOTE ABOUT INK -

There's no right or wrong type of ink to use for this project so it can be dye based, pigment ink, alcohol based etc etc. The only stipulation is that it needs to be a very light shade of grey....and one that is lighter than the pencil lead. You are using the stamped image as a guide outline only to which you draw on top of so it shouldn't be so dark that it overpowers the pencil and impeeds you in creating the shading. You also need to make sure the ink has completely dried before you apply the pencil or else the sketch lines will smudge so allow it to dry naturally, or if you have a heat tool, then heat set it.

A NOTE ABOUT PAPER -

Ideally you should be using a good quality drawing paper but it's worth experimenting with the different papers and cards that you have to see what effect and results you achieve with laying down of the graphite (ie the paper needs a good 'key' to enable the graphite to stick to it). Too textured a paper and not only will this be difficult to stamp the initial image on, but the graphite lead will lay down unevenly....and too shiny and smooth a card and you'll find the graphite will slide and not find a good key to enable shading.

A NOTE ABOUT COPYRIGHT - IMPORTANT!

Please refer to and follow the Angel policy set out by Creative Expressions, when using The World of Tatty Button craft products for cardmaking, craft purposes that you intend to sell and/or make profit from. Please note Tatty Button character and the images/characters from The World of Tatty Button, plus all photos and content included in this Blog and tutorial are copyright of the artist Ange J Lee and should not be copied or reproduced in any way unless authorised by the appropriate persons. This tutorial is meant as a guide for a stamping and drawing technique and for personal use only. It should not be used on items using the Tatty Button images for sale and profit...and must not ever be passed off as original Tatty Button/The World of Tatty Button artwork. The photocopying of stamped hand drawn in Tatty Button images is prohibited - many thanks for your understanding!

TUTORIAL -

Ink up the stamp and apply to your paper. The colour should be pale enough not to overpower the pencil colour.....and don't worry if you haven't achieved a perfect stamped image either. You only need an impression to use as a guide. Any missing bits will be drawn in, in the next stages.

Taking your pencil, start off by lightly drawing over the outline, then going in darker (by applying more pressure with the pencil) to shade in selected areas. The Tatty Button stamp images have small areas of crosshatched shading which you can use as a guide (these are simplified impressions in order to create a clean non fussy stamp outline) and you can work these areas much more and then add other areas of shading should you feel it necessary. Try to keep the outlines and pencil movements sketchy and varied in order to maintain that handrawn look.

Take a look at the above photo. The cross hatch lines under the jawline of Tatty's face are the original stamp image and very light and simplified. They need reworking and emphasising with pencil.....

....and this is what it should look like when you started shading it in more. The darkness of the colour and shading depends on how much pressure you apply onto the paper. If you're using a reasonably soft lead this will not take much doing. Start off filling in the whole area very lightly and concentrate applying more pressure to create darker graphite to the areas that are more at the back or into the corners...where it would naturally be darker. Also compare the left hand side which is pencil worked and has a nice dark hand drawn effect....to the right hand side which is the original stamped ink outline and is too pale with clean manufactured lines.

Continue on drawing and shading in until you feel you have achieved the desired effect. If you feel it has been overworked or some shading is too dark, then you can rub out that area and redraw in...or even restamp the image and start from scratch. You can also smudge shading in using your finger or a paper blending stump.

The more you try this, the more experience you will gain and you'll develop your own way of drawing in. This is not meant to be Fine Art and Tatty is not a realistic figure...so realism is not what we're after....and there are no hard or fast rules to apply in creating the Tatty character so each time you do this technique, it will be slightly different and that variation all adds to the fun and character.

And that's all there is too it! I'd love to know what you think, if you try this technique and how you get on.

THE NEXT STAGE -

At the moment, mono colour, especially grey scale is quite 'en vogue' in the craft world so I decided to create a card with the Tatty Button image, playing on and extending on the greyscale of the grahite using just white, black and grey colour scheme.

The basic white cardstock is used throughout for the base, embellishment, flowers and base for the stamped drawn in image.

A plain black thin card stock was used for the frames. All shapes/frames were die cut using Spellbinders Nestabilities - Lacy Circles (S4293), Standard Circles Large (S4114) and Labels Seven (S4231).

Embossed background was created using Sizzix embossing plate and the straight embossed lines were formed using a basic scoreboard with a ball end embossing tool. The flowers were created using hand punches - EKSuccess Retro flower, and Papermania1.6cm Midi 5petal flower.

A tutorial on how to create the paper flowers will be uploaded to the Floral Fancies website in the near future (so please keep an eye out for that).

Hope you find this of interest....

Tatty Ta Ta for now!

NEW TUTORIAL - FLORAL FANCIES

2011-09-02T17:56:00.003+01:00

THE TSUMAMI KANZASHI FLOWER

I hold my hands up....last week I discovered a full tut of photos in my files that I'd forgotten to upload to the Floral Fancies website...DOH!Anyways I've set it all up now so if you want to learn how I make the basic TSUMAMI flower out of fabric, then check it out here -http://www.freewebs.com/agnestheredtutorials2/fabrictechniques.htmI'm also having a bit of a play using this technique out of other materials so if they work and I discover something worthwhile telling you about, I'll also upload those too soon.

Enjoy....

...now it's on to the next tutorial!

RUGBY & ROCK CANDY ROCKS!

2011-09-01T10:36:00.010+01:00

Things are a bit slim on the art/craft front for me at the moment...not much to show you at the moment and no real projects/work in progress to report on. The rugby season starts for proper this weekend (whooohooo come on you Warriors!) after a couple of weeks of friendlies so weekends now get taken up by travelling down to Worcester for home games and then staying over with Clives mom (who lives in Worc) to help out with chores around the house and garden...and take her out to nice places weather permitting. I used to do all the away games too but the travelling has just gotten way too much so I'm easing back on those in order to spare myself up some time to catch up on my own housework/gardening and decorating (yep that is still ongoing!) and see my own family....who do get badly neglected during the 'season'.

...almost as badly as this blog! LOL!
Anyways, I've been thinking about what to do with the blog. I do joke that it gets neglected (especially at this time of year) but seeings as I don't get to produce much or regular work, if I just blogged about that then I guess the place would lie dormant for huge amounts of time and I'm loathed to allow too much dust to settle on The Square again....so I'm going to keep on with my 'rambling' tradition and pop on the odd few things that I've come across on my web travels that I think really MUST be shared. These will include products and places and other peoples Blogs, artists, recipes etc that I think must be shouted about. So PLEASE keep tuned in on The Six Inch Square...you might find something that is of great interest to you...and something that maybe you can pass on and share with your own friends too. Ohhh...and yes I AM still doing the flower tuts...the website IS still being added to and I'll keep you informed when a new one appears....in fact there is one just around the corner...so stay tuned!

So...to kick things off today I'm going to tell you all about a new small company that has just been set up that I think ROCKS!

ROCK CANDY

This new independent clothing line from Leeds, UK is something I think needs shouting about. The designs are pretty cool, with inspiration taken from all things confectionery...but with a twist....hence the name!

A small shop has been set up on their website selling just a few limited designs for the moment....and usually only printed off in limited numbers of 100....so If you want one, then you have to be quick because I think as soon as people catch on to these funky fun tees, then they will be flying off the web shelf!

I'm partic taken with this sucker design by Richard Clayton...and it's on sale RIGHT NOW so to get a better a view please follow the link below.
Sizes come in Large Medium and Small but if you are concerned what exactly what size will suit you, then you can contact them via their website.

http://rockcandystore.bigcartel.com/

If you're a FaceBooker, then they also have a page for you to follow (PLEASE LIKE and recommend to friends) and a BLOG that will keep you up to date with latest designs, and competitions/freebies etc.

ROCK CANDY ROCKS!...that's me done for now so catch you alls later!

TATTY BUTTON CHRISTMAS CREATE&CRAFT SHOWS

2011-08-09T21:46:00.005+01:00

ON CREATE & CRAFT
WITH JO CHANNON

11th August 2011 - 9am-10am, 12-1pm, and 2-3pm

and

12th August 2011 - 11-12pm, 2-3pm, and 5-6pm

(dates and times may be subject to change)
FEATURING PAPERCRAFT CD-ROM AND FESTIVE RUBBER STAMP COLLECTION

SKY 671 FREEVIEW 36 FREESAT 813

Pastel Project 'Jack'

2011-08-03T15:34:00.016+01:00

A couple of posts ago I mentioned a project I started - a pastel pet portrait of a family pet dog Jack. I decided to hold off from showing and blogging the work until it was all done, then do a complete post about it showing the 'progress photos' from start to finish and how I got on. If you want to read the hows and whys I started this project...or just refresh on the subject, please check out the initial post - http://thesixinchsquare.blogspot.com/2011/07/little-personal-challengea-change-is-as.html

Well....one month later and a total of five days worked on it I'm happy to say it's now all finished and here are the results -

DAY 1 - With a little guidence from artist friends, I selected a soft grey velour paper for the base to help work with the beautiful blues and greys of Jacks fur. The pastels of choice were Faber Castell PITT pencils. The original photo I worked from was already enlarged to A4 size, and this proved a perfect size to transfer to the portrait, so I set about marking out the outline by simply tracing the photo and transfering to the velour paper using carbon copy paper. Apologies but I didn't take a photo of this stage.

I started laying down the lighter areas and gently marking in the places where more darker shading would be required and realised that the pencils were going to be a bit to hard to apply the pigment in such large areas, so swapped for some softer pastel sticks. They went down really easily. The velour paper really took me by surprise...it was amazing to work on and I loved it! I was worried at first trying out something so alien to me....but immediately felt comfortable and at ease with it...and I think that positive start was half my battle won already. A couple of things struck me at this stage...that the velour marked and smudged easily - so I decided to work from the top of the head downwards using a sheet of paper to cover the rest of the velour and stop smudging and transfer of pastel pigment to unwanted areas via my hand....and that the idea of working like watercolour (ie laying down lighter colours first and building up deeper shades on top) felt more comfortable for me. However, unlike watercolour where you are limited to how much colour can be 'picked' back off or lightened, you can go over darker areas with lighter colours rather well.

DAY 2 - I started going in with more depth, concentrating on the upper head area and working a bit on the eye detail. The nice thing about using the pencil pastels was that I could sharpen them to a good point which allowed for sharp detail....and also use them on their side to cover larger areas with a softer effect. Having spent a great deal of time with Jack over the years, I had a good knowledge of his fur....most people would just think a Poodles fur was just all curl but in fact it has so many different textures from dense heavy curls on the main body, to softer looser ones on the head and then the finest silkest hair on the ears which in places look crimped. I knew it was going to be a challenge recreating these textures so I set aside a spare piece of practice velour to try out different ways of laying down the pastels.For the head, I used the blunt end and sides of the pencil, working in gentle soft circular motion and loved how the velour added to the effect. The soft fluff was starting to appear in a really pleasing way. One thing, however became apparant at this stage...and that was that his nose seemed to be in the wrong place, a little too low so it was important at the next stage to redraw in, in a better position.

DAY 3 - The nose was realigned and I started adding more detail to this mid section. Jack had quite small eyes so it was important to work these well to prevent them from looking piggy and mean...something Jack certainly wasn't and he had beautiful kind eyes. In the photo, a fair bit of fur obscured his eyes so I opted to open it out more and seeings as he had quite a bit of silver/white around his face, I decided to hold off from being too accurate and loyal to the photo, and thinned out the excess fur and kept it quite light to emphasise the lovely deep liquid brown of his eyes. His muzzle was always shaved quite short so the hairs were quite straight - just little medium pressure strokes of the pencil were called for. His ears however were long and silky so much lighter and longer pencil marks were needed.

DAY 4 - On studying the picture at this point, I decided that the width of the top of his head needed expanding on...more fluff and fur. It seemed too narrow and was creating a cone shape effect. Despite the fact that Jack was never clipped in 'show' style, he always had a good 'bouffant' on top so a few more pastel strokes just above the base of the ears was enough to widen and rectify it. By now I was also laying down heavier and darker pigment, working on the shadows created under his chin. I also gently worked in an impression of his chain collar. I intentionally left off from too much detail here as the whole portrait softened out from the neck down to blend into the background colour and any heavy area of detail at that point would have created too much of a sharp edge. I also worked in some soft light tan and blue...Jack might have been a Siver Grey Poodle, but he actually had a fair bit of brown especially around the face (it might also interest you to know he was born a jet black puppy and only started turning grey a few years afterwards).

DAY 5 - A bit more work on the darker areas and once I realised I was actually faffing about and just adding bits for the sake of it...I realised it was time to stop before it became overworked. Some pastel artists might look at it and think it still unfinished, and find plenty to be critical about, but I liked it this way and as it was my very first attempt I felt this point was the right time to call it a day. It's amazing what a frame can do to really bring a piece to life. It's not going to be the final choice, but this simple oval double mount frame finishes off the work well.

So, what dya think folks? I have to say for my first attempt, I'm very pleased with the result. I rekindled my relationship with pet portraits (it's been a long time!) and tried something new and slightly out of my comfort zone and come away with a new style, a new technique and something I definately want to do again....in fact I already have another pet portrait lined up! I loved the way the velour helped soften the pastels to create textures I've never managed to achieve before.

So, there you go...my little project all wrapped up and done with and now I'm off to start another painting....a set of four mini pop art style canvases...yep, back to the norm.....but just for the time being I hope!

New Knotwork tutorial

2011-08-02T10:04:00.006+01:00

I was having a browse of my tuts website yesterday and really think it needs updating. Crafting has moved on so much and there are so many new techniques and things I have discovered and learnt that I want to share....but I did say a while back that I didn't have any intentions of adding new tutorials to the site for the time being as time is so thin on the ground at the moment and I am wanting to really concentrate on the new Floral Fancies...

...but having said that, I have had a quite a bit of feedback over the last year with people really interested in the knotwork and wanting to see and learn more (I'd only put a couple of simple tuts online) and then I was contacted recently with a request to show how to make a woven heart. The strange thing was that I was actually making another heart for a card at that very moment, so I thought...well....why not do a quick tut on it...

This is a photo of the very first heart I attempted way back in 2008, it's natural twine so a bit uneven and rough around the edges.

...so Tah Dah....I have, and you can find it here (scroll down to the section subtitled Celtic Heart).

http://www.freewebs.com/agnestheredtutorials/knotwork.htm

Hope you find it of interest...and I'd love to know if anyone gives it a go and what they think.

A little personal challenge...a change is as good as a rest!

2011-07-09T10:04:00.007+01:00

I've decided to have a little art and craft break.....and no, before you all start thinking I'm laying down the tools.....I don't mean THAT sort of break. And, I don't mean setting off to some unknown lovely place for an art holiday (although that WOULD be very nice).

What I AM doing is something different (well, to a point)...setting myself a little art challenge and journeying slightly into the unknown (oooohhhh scarey lol!) which I hope I'll learn from and gain a little more experience and expend on my techniques.

Afterall.....a change is as good as a rest...so they say (...you know, I do often wonder who 'THEY' are...but hey ho that's a question for another day!).

So I thought I'd share my 'journey' with you.

Anyways, most of you will know I used to do pet portraits...mainly dogs and cats, and it sort of was put to bed while I moved onto pastures new.... but for a while now I've been keen to do one of a family pet dog 'Jack' that we recently lost to old age. My usual medium for this sort of thing is watercolour and a couple of years ago when Jack was still alive, I started one of him then but it never really worked out as I struggled to portray his soft fluffy curly fur (he was a silver grey Standard Poodle). I downed tools on that project, a little disappointed with myself but determined to try again at some point.

It wasn't until earlier this year that I discussed the 'failure' with a friend. Now we'd lost him I felt ready to tackle it again but they suggested that maybe I should consider another medium....and had I considered pastels...as that is what a lot of pet portrait painters work with...
and that was my lightbulb moment!

I also work with pencil, and acrylics....but those just didn't feel right and oil paints are something that terrify me (a challenge for another day maybe) but I did have and do use pastels....just not in this way (more in mixed med work and abstract)....but I liked the idea.

I started looking into the art of pastel portraits and realised that many used velour paper...something I never used! It seemed here was a paper with its soft velevet texture that could possibly be my answer and allow me to achieve the look I was after! The pastels then troubled me for brief moment as I'd never used them on something so fine detailed....but the answer lay in the form of pastel pencils rather than sticks and as I was used to working in this form, it was sorted!

So....my challenge was being set. I was going to try a pastel pet portrait on velour, using pencil format. I knew it wasn't going to be easy...new techniques, new medium, new paper but I'm using a form I'm comfortable with...and an image I know well...so I sort of have a little cushion...or should that be comfort blanket to help buffer the leap into the unknown and it's just a test, afterall, not a paid for commission, so the only person I've got to prove something to is me. I do hope I'll learn alot during this journey. I don't expect a beautiful masterpiece but I'll do my best to do Jack justice

Day one (08/07/2011) - With a little guidence from some art friends, I selected a pale grey velour paper for the base...to help work with the beautiful greys and blues of Jacks fur and opted for Faber Castell PITT pastel pencils (I luckily have a good collection of these including a nice range of blues and grey shades) and set about marking out the outline.
Apologies but I don't have a photo of this stage - The photo I am working from is actually A4 size, so there was no need to rework this to transfer to the A4 velour paper it fitted beautifully...I simple took a tracing and used carbon paper to transfer a basic outline to the velour. The the fun began.

It's early stages yet...I've got a huge way to go...and it wasn't helped by grotty weather (thunder and huge rainstorms) which ammounted to very poor light conditions and very few hours to work in but I got a start on some very basic shadings. The velour is amazing to work on...I love it...although it's delicate and prone to marking and smudging (not helped by using pastels!) so I'm attempting to work from the top of the head downwards. I am finding the pencils a little hard and not laying down anough pigment, although the shape is good for putting in detail, so I have gone in with some bigger soft pastel sticks to fill in larger areas, and will be using paper stumps to help belnd. I feel like I might be going a little too tentatively, but working slowly and building up layers like a watercolour does seem to be suiting me. Mind you, I had worried that, like watercolour, I would be in danger of overworking the piece but I've been asured that this medium is much more forgiving and I'm in no rush...so I want to keep stopping, assessing my progress, do a little research and gain more advice from other pastel artists instead of throwing it all down in one go...and only then realising the mistakes and being to far gone and not being able to do anything about it......prevention is better than cure they say (there I go with the 'THEY' again!).

The photo of the WIP isn't brilliant I'm afraid...it's hard to get the detail on such light pencilwork at this stage. It does show, however, that I have placed the tip of the nose to low...thankfully an area I haven't worked on yet so I can easily go back in with a graphite pencil toreposition and rework it.

So....what do you think?....I'm enjoying myself so far and I think if I can continue on in that positive way the outcome will be pretty good.

NOTE - I'd just like to thank all my artist friends who have helped and supported me in starting this journey...their advice and experience is proving invaluable and is being gratefully received. I'm so lucky to know a wide variety of people with a wide variety of art knowledge....there always seems to be someone somewhere who can lend a hand! Some are people I've only just come into contact with but their willingness to give time to me in their busy lifes means an awful lot!

THANK YOU and I hope I can do this justice!

NEW FLORAL FANCIES TUTORIALS

2011-07-07T17:54:00.006+01:00

For all you followers of my Floral Fancies Tutorial website....I have been busy this week uploading some new tuts.

I've been forming basic flowers with Friendly Plastic and having great fun recycling plastic bags...and even some bubble wrap and bread bags...it's actually proved quite addictive!

So if you want to know how to make these...and more flowers from plastic...check out the link - http://agnestheredtutorials2.webs.com/plasticstechniques.htm

THE GREAT UTEE EXPERIMENT - DAY 4

2011-07-01T19:11:00.045+01:00

UPDATE - Just wanted to show you a photo of the new larger batches of UTEE that were mixed up on Monday (4 days ago) and how much the powder coloured with the Paste Food Colouring improved.

Slightly less paste was used in ratio to the powder and the consistency and dryness was nearly the same as the Alcohol Ink and Liquid Food Colouring UTEEs....although there was no change whatsoever to the Distress Ink treated UTEE. To be quite honest, the consistency I believe will only play a part in stamping and heat embossing techniques and will have little effect on Day 4 testing.

I've also uploaded the photos to the Day 3 'Flexibility and Crack Test' here (I'm having problems accessing that post to edit it).

After leaving the Mount Board tiles to completely cool and harden, I found a distinct difference in some of the enamels when flexed and cracked. The Alcohol Ink and Liquid Food Colouring treated UTEEs produced great cracks and crazing but the Paste Food Colouring and Distress Ink treated UTEEs still had some softness to them and needed much more force and flexing to get them to crack....unfortunately to the point that the boards they were adhered to became creased and split.

AND NOW....

DAY 3

'THE MELT POT TESTS'

It's Day 4 of The Great UTEE Experiment and this ones the important one...with the tests and results we were all wanting to know about......USING THE MELT POT!

Just before we go onto the Tests I have a few things that I'd like you to take note of.
THE MELT POT - I have only tested the UTEEs in a Melt Pot...although I do know some of you don't have this tool and many even melt the powders in a foil container using a heat gun...this is something I do wish to try out at a later date but I do think that the results will probably be the same.

TEMPERATURE - I played safe and melted the UTEEs at a slightly lower temperature than is normally used...opting for 130 on the temperature gauge....basically because, apart from the Alcohol Ink coloured UTEE, I didn't know how the mixtures were going to react. This proved fine as I was only melting small amounts.

NON STICK LINING - I noticed in the previous days testing, just how much both the Food Colourings stained...practically everything they came into contact with! With this in mind I was wary that they could ruin the Melt Pot base so I opted to line it with Non Stick Craft Sheet which was cut to size and placed inside the pan. This meant I was limited on how much UTEE I could melt and so I couldn't really carry out tests for dipping and coating but I'll try those out using a tin foil container at a later date. The liner successfully heats up and doesn't hinder the melting process and also means you can drag it from the pot using tweezers onto the worksurface without disturbing the molten UTEE or causing unwanted spills and 'ribboning' which can happen when pouring direct from the pots spout.
NOT ALL CRAFT SHEETS ARE EQUAL! - You can buy cheap sheets...and expensive sheets....they are all non stick and can all be successfully used in crafting BUT there are a few things to bear in mind. Cheaper non stick sheets (usually sold as baking sheets and oven liners) are often slightly textured and this can have an effect on the surface of your UTEE once it's hardened. It can leave a textured surface on the underside and also results in the loss of the smooth glossy finish (it leaves a matt finish). The more expensive sheets designed and sold for craft and artwork are heavier duty and higher quality and tend to have a very smooth shiny surface. Using these sheets means the UTEE will have a smooth shiny finish on all surfaces. It really depends on what type of effect you're after as to what type and quality sheets you use. I use both cheap and top quality sheets for different things but my opinion will always be that if you want the best smoothest and glossiest of finishes...it pays to use the best quality craft sheets.

In The Great UTEE Experiment I used cheap sheets to melt and test the UTEEs on...basically because I was working with unknown substances and didn't know whether they'd stain or ruin the sheets.....something I didn't want to happen with my expensive ones. Once I know the outcome of the tests, I'll know whether it's safe to use them.

TEST 1. BASIC MELTING IN A MELT POT.

TOOLS USED - Melt Pot, Non Stick Craft Sheet lining, Non Stick Craft Sheet for worksurface, tweezers, spoon, coloured UTEE powders.
TEST CARRIED OUT - A good heaped spoonful of the UTEE powder placed on the Non Stick Lining in the preheated Melt Pot (130) and melted down completely. Tweezers used to quickly drag the lining out of the MP so as not to disturb the molten UTEE too much, and placed on another non stick Craft Sheet on a worksurface. The puddle of molten UTEE allowed to completely harden and cool, then peeled off the lining.

THE RESULTS NOTED - How easily the powder melted down, if there was any adverse reactions to the UTEE during melting. If there was any effects or changes to the colour during melting. If the UTEE require stirring to mix up any colour separation during melting. How the UTEE and colour reacted during the cooling and hardening process - speckling, colour separation, granulation, splitting and cracking and the shine and gloss of the finished surface.
TEST 1. ALCOHOL INK (BUTTERSCOTCH)

A good heaped spoonful of the powder was placed in the Melt Pot and it melted evenly and quickly with no obvious colour separation.

RESULT - The Alcohol Ink coloured UTEE melted down evenly and quickly with no problems arising proving that once the alcohol has been vapourised off in the prior mixing into the dry powder, it is safe to use in a Melt Pot and produces good results. There was no major separation of colour during melting. The effect was slightly mottled and a pleasing distressed effect but didn't contain any harsh speckling or granulation. The hardened puddle of UTEE had a nice smooth glossy finish to the surface.

TEST 1. LIQUID FOOD COLOURING (ROSE PINK)
The UTEE powder was placed in the Melt Pot and started dissolving immediately with no problems.
It melted down evenly and quickly with no separation of colour.

RESULT- This UTEE melted down quickly and evenly with no adverse effects. The colour remained true to the original powder form with only minor separation of colour pigment and miner speckling. The hardened puddle of UTEE had a nice smooth glossy finish.
TEST 1. PASTE FOOD COLOURING (BABY BLUE)

A good heaped spoonful of the UTEE powder was placed in the pan and it started to melt immediately.....probably the quickest of all the powders tested.

It melted quickly and evenly although there was signs of colour separation and it needed to be stirred with a spatula to bring it together again.

RESULT - The Food Paste Colour UTEE (Baby Blue) showed no adverse effects when melted down....it did so evenly and quickly and is therefor safe and good to use as a colouriser of the UTEE for Melt Pot techniques. The colour stayed true to the original powder form but there was slight speckling and separation of pigment....giving a distressed look. The hardened puddle of UTEE also lost a bit of gloss to the surface.
TEST 1. DISTRESS INK (RE-INKER MILLED LAVENDER)

The powder was placed in the MP, on the lining, but due to being a slightly wetter and stickier powder, it didn't spread out as easy.

The UTEE took slightly longer to melt down completely but I think this could be improved by spreading the powder out thinner in the first place, if possible.

RESULT - UTEE coloured with Distress Inks takes a little longer to melt down, but there are no real problems that arise from using it in a melt pot. The colour stays reasonably true to the original, maybe slightly lighter and there is some speckling and separation of the pigment but this is minor and adds to the distressed look.....after all it is Distress Ink that is being used! The fact that the powder melted down with no problems, shows that although it was a stickier and wetter powder to begin with, this had no adverse effect on the melted down results. The hardened puddle of UTEE however did have a much duller finish to the surface.
TEST 2. FUSING TOGETHER THE DIFFERENT COLOURISERS.
TOOLS REQUIRED - Melt Pot, Non-Stick Craft sheet liner plus extra sheet for worksurface, tweezers, coloured UTEEs, Spoon.
TESTS CARRIED OUT - Melt Pot set to heat level 130 and lined with craft sheet. Coloured UTEEs spooned into piles next to each other, just touching and/or overlapping and melted down (MP lid placed on top to speed up melting time). The liner then dragged out of the MP and placed on a protected worksurface to allow to cool and harden.
THE RESULTS NOTED - Whether the different colourisers fused together, or rejected each other and if they had an effect on each others colour pigments.

Small spoonfuls of the UTEEs were placed on the craft sheet lining in the Melt Pot, side by side and only very slightly overlapping. The started to dissolve immediately.

All were looking to be melting down well....but as with the first test...the UTEE coloured by the Distress Inks (re-inker Milled Lavender) took the longest to dissolve in the heat.

RESULT - The coloured UTEEs fused together very well...with no cracks or fissures between the colours proving that the different colourisers didn't react with or reject each other...so they can all be safely used together...or in different combinations. The puddle of hardened UTEE had an even smooth semi gloss finish.

As you can see in this close up....I noticed the colours had started top merge and create new ones....and that, to me, was looking very promising so I decided to set up another test.

TEST 3. MIXING DIFFERENT COLOURS AND SUBSTANCES TOGETHER.
TOOLS USED - MeltPot, nonstick craftsheet liner for MP and craftsheet for worksurface. Tweezers, the coloured UTEEs in both powder and hardened remnant form, silicon nonstick spatula or spoon.
TEST CARRIED OUT - Different coloured UTEEs with different colourisers melted and mixed together in the Melt Pot to create new colours.
THE RESULTS NOTED - to see if the different coloured UTEEs and the different colourisers could be mixed successfully together. Effects on the UTEEs during melting and mixing process. The colours achieved and if evenly pigmented.

Two different coloured UTEEs were placed together in the Melt Pot. This was done twice with both remnants of hardened UTEE and the original powder forms.

The molten UTEE was gently stirred with a non stick silicon spatula, to mix the colours together. Once completely melted, the lining was dragged from the Melt Pot, placed on a protected worksurface and allowed to cool and harden.

RESULT - The Alcohol Ink (Butterscotch) and Paste Food Colouring (baby Blue) UTEEs mixed well to produce a lovely emerald green. The Paste Food Colouring (Baby Blue), the Distress Ink (Milled Lavender) and the Liquid Food Colouring UTEEs mixed to create a deep claret/purple.
This proved the different colourisers could be easily mixed together to create new colours, with no side effects, colour splitting or degrading of the UTEE. All the cooled and hardened UTEE had an even semi gloss finish to the surface.

TEST 4. USING METAL COOKIE CUTTER TO CREATE SHAPES.

TOOLS USED - Melt Pot, non stick Craft sheets (one cut to size for lining the pot, and one placed on the worksurface, shaped metal cookie cutter, Glycerin, tweezers and coloured UTEEs.
TEST CARRIED OUT - a small amount of UTEE melted in the MP and then dragged onto the protected worksurface using tweezers. A cutter placed into the molten substance, and once hardened the cutter and UTEE remnants removed to leave a shaped tile of hardened UTEE.
THE RESULTS NOTED - How cleanly the UTEE released from the cutter and how good a shape was created.

The test was carried out as in the following tutorial.

A non stick craft sheet was cut to size and placed in the Melt Pot and the pot itself was levelled up by placing a small block under the back end. It was then set to heat up at 130.

A good spoonful of the UTEE was placed in the center of the craft sheet in the hot Melt Pot and allowed to melt. To aid melting, the lid can be placed on the pot but this was a small amount of powder so it melted down quickly. The cutter was then prepared by smearing the inside, bottom edge and outside edge with Glycerin to act as a release agent and prevent the UTEE sticking to the metal..

The nonstick craft sheet was then dragged quickly from the Melt Pot, trying not to disturb any of the molten UTEE, and the prepared cutter pushed firmly down into the UTEE. Heat from the molten substance transfers to the metal cutter so care must be taken not to touch it until it has cooled or else you could burn your fingers.

Once the UTEE had set and was cool enough to touch, the outer pieces were peeled away...these are the remnants that can be remelted again for another use. It's best not to let the piece go totally hard, as it is less flexible and prone to shattering or cracking when trying to remove from the cutter.

...and this is the final product....a perfectly cut shape of UTEE from the cookie cutter.

RESULT - All four coloured UTEEs took well to this technique and resulted in lovely shaped pieces with clean edges.
TEST 5. RE-MELTING AND REUSING UTEE REMNANTS.
This test was to see how well the hardened remnants of melted UTEE took to being remelted again....and again....something we all want to do in order to save on waste. Each portion was remelted, hardened and then remelted again a total of FIVE times to see if there was any degrading....either in colour or substance.

RESULT - ALL the pieces of hardened UTEE took to being remelted well....with only a slight separation of colour pigment happening the more it was done...but this was evened out by some gentle stirring. I didn't notice any change to the overall makeup of the UTEE.

TEST 6. USING SILICON MOULDS

Here are just two pieces that I created by pouring the molten UTEE into silicon moulds. The piece on the left was using the 'Butterscotch' Alcohol Ink and the one on the right, using the 'Milled Lavender' Distress Ink (reinker). I really liked the look of the Butterscotch colour....making the piece look like amber...and the other one looked like pale amethyst. ALL the molten UTEE mixes poured and set well in the moulds.

CONCLUSION - Todays experiment shows that ALL the coloured UTEE powders worked a treat in the Melt Pot. ALL behaved perfectly in melting, remelting, pouring and moulding.....and even mixing successfully together to create new colours....meaning that, in my opinion, they can all work perfectly in any other Melt Pot techniques. There was separation of colour pigments to varying degrees, but mixing helped even that out a bit where needed.

So...there you go...that's my findings for the time being....These four different colourisers are safe to use for colouring and preparing dry UTEE powder before melting in a Melt Pot and can be then safely used in MP techniques with reasonable success. I also now know that I can safely use my expensive, better quality non stick craft sheets without fear of them being ruined by the colourisers.
That's me done for now.....Sunday I'm off to a Milton Keynes for the Foo Fighters gig YAY...and praying the weather stays good for us! Then I'll be back next week working on some more Floral Fancies tutorials...got a very interesting one involving bags and alcohol inks! But don't worry.....The Great UTEE Experiment will be back soon...very soon...there are certainly more things to add and expand on.
Have a good weekend and...

Stay tuned!

THE GREAT UTEE EXPERIMENT - DAY 3

2011-06-27T18:07:00.111+01:00

Well....folks, the day you've all been waiting for arrived.....AND WHAT A DAY IT HAS BEEN! I hit the newly coloured UTEE powders with some heat...did a bit of embossing....did a bit of melting....and I'm still here and my kitchen is still in tact - no fires, no explosions, no being overwhelmed with toxic fumes.....pretty straightforward testing really.......although it has drawn up some interesting results. The tests all went fine, like clockwork and I was all done by midday.....it's just been sorting out the Blog post that has been the nightmare. I've been tearing my hair out with photo uploading problems and then the whole thing crashing and refusing to save my work to draft...Arrrrrrggggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!
Anyhoos...it's all done now....finally whooohooo....please read and enjoy!
First, just a note before you read on with the results. Although my previous blog post checked out the powders after a 24hour rest period, they did, if you think about it, actually have near 48hours before I started day 3 testing....and this morning I noted that the powder treated with the Paste Food Colouring had dried out a little bit more....not quite as much as the Liquid Food coloured or Alcohol Ink treated ones....but nether-the-less a little bit more. The UTEE treated with the Distress Ink, however, had no further change. I'm beginning to think the longer it was left, it may have at some point dried out to a pretty good consistency.....but like I say....'at some point' meaning I have no idea how long that would take, and I haven't got that much time to wait..... ...and so, with that it was on to Day 3.

DAY 3

'THE HEAT GUN & EMBOSSING & GLAZING TEST'

Todays experiment was all about how good the powders were when used for embossing a stamped image, and then glazing a square of mount board...using heat applied with a Heat Tool.
Just a couple of things to note first....UTEE is thick grained powder and designed more to be used in a Melt Pot and for covering large areas....so it's not that suitable for highly detailed stamp images. Bearing this in mind I choose a stamp image that was simple and more of a solid design and used a clear embossing ink so that I could get a good view of the coloured UTEE once it had been heat treated. I was also wary of how the colourants would react to the application of heat, so used a heat tool with two heat/speed settings....and used just the lowest setting. I was also becoming more aware of how much the Food Colourings were staining things....in particular the Paste version....and so I took particular care to wear gloves and make sure I had the worksurfaces covered and protected.

TOOLS USED - Embossing Ink (clear), plain white paper & white Mount Board cut into 4 small 2inch square tiles, rubber stamp, coloured UTEEs, Heat Tool (used on lowest setting), non stick craft sheet, heat resistant mats, and latex gloves to prevent staining of hands.
TESTS CARRIED OUT - TEST1. Stamped image on white paper embossed with the coloured UTEEs using a heat tool. TEST2. Mount Board tiles glazed by the coloured UTEEs using a heat tool, then cooled and flexed to crack the enamel.

THE RESULTS NOTED - TEST1. How easy the powder could be applied to the stamped image and the reaction of the powder on the embossing ink. Coverage of powder, and reaction of powder to the application of heat via a heat tool. Coverage of melted UTEE. TEST2. Coverage of powders over a larger solid area. Reaction of powders to the application of heat via a heat tool. Coverage of melted UTEE in a single layer, then how many susequent layers and re-applications of powder are required to achieve a full even glazed finish. Reaction of the colour with the application of heat and melting process and comparison in colour of the finished glaze to the original powdered form. Flexibility of the enamel once cooled and how easy to crack.

TEST1. - ALCOHOL INK (Butterscotch)

The Alcohol coloured UTEE sprinkled easily over the image, gave an even coverage and adhered well. It melted quickly and evenly with no adverse reactions. Although the UTEE is a course grained powder and not really suitable for this technique, the melted and embossed image was pleasing.

awaiting image....

TEST1. - LIQUID FOOD COLOURING (Rose Pink)The Liquid Food Colouring treated UTEE was a very similar consistency to the Alcohol Ink coloured powder and therefore sprinkled easily over the stamped image.But it seemed to struggle to adhere to the embossing ink, despite several attempts at application and gave a slightly uneven coverage, with a bit falling off and blowing away when heat was applied despite using the lowest setting. There were no further adverse reactions when applied to the ink, or with the application of heat.

The powder melted quickly and easily. The final results were uneven and patchy in coverage but the colour remained constant.

TEST1. - PASTE FOOD COLOURING (Baby Blue)The UTEE treated with Paste Food Colouring did not sprinkle easily over the stamped image, it was still too sticky and came out of the remakin dish in clumps. I had to spread it out and pat it down with my fingers to get an even coverage.Despite several attempts to apply the powder, it wouldn't adhere to the stamped inked image, kept falling off and blowing away . The above photo shows the most powder I managed to get to stay put....but I didn't think it was worth heat treating this....so the test was sadly not taken any further.

TEST1. - DISTRESS INK (Milled Lavender re-inker)This was the colourant that had disappointingly underperformed in the previous tests and this test proved no different. The powder was so sticky it had to be spooned out of the ramekin dish and spread over the stamped inked image. Like the Paste Food Colouring treated powder, it would not adhere to the ink and fell off, despite numerous attempts to re-apply.
The test was abandoned and taken no further.

So, here are the results lined up side by side. Whilst the first two colour treated UTEEs showed no adverse reactions or colour changes under heat application, the Paste Food Colouring and Distress Ink treated powders wouldn't adhere to the embossing ink and so I couldn't use the heat tool on them. I believe this may be due to the moisture levels of the powder showing it needs to be much drier in order to adhere to the ink on finer detailed images. Unless there is a way in which the powders could be dried out to significantly seperate the grains, they are unsuitable to use in this stamping embossing technique.

TEST2. ALCOHOL INK (Butterscotch).The coloured UTEE covered the mount board tile easily, it adhered to the ink well and gave an even coverage. On application of heat, by the heat gun, there was little change in the colour and grains melted down quickly and spread reasonably evenly but there wasn't total coverage of the board with one layer. Three layers of powder were required to achieve a smooth evenly covered glaze on the tile.
TEST2. - LIQUID FOOD COLOURING (Rose Pink)As with the Alcohol Ink treated UTEE, this powder covered evenly and easily. It seemed to adhere and cover the larger surface area better than with the stamped image. It melted down quickly with no alteration to the colour. One layer didn't fully cover the tile but it only took a further two applications to achieve a smooth glazed finish.

TEST2. - PASTE FOOD COLOURING (baby Blue) .As with the stamped image embossing test, I struggled to get the powder to adhere to the tile and had to spread it out with my fingers and try to pat it down and compress it onto the mount board. However, when heat was applied, most of it fell off and blew away before it had a chance to melt. The melted coverage of the first application was very poor and uneven. After three layers, the coverage was still unsatisfactory and it wasn't until the fifth application that the tile was covered, but wasn't smooth in finish and the colour was patchy and it lost it's gloss. Getting the powder to adhere was more successful when applied to the still hot and sticky UTEE layer, rather than applying another coat of ink. There was no adverse reactions when heat was applied and no extreme change in colour compared to the original powder.

TEST2. - DISTRESS INK (Milled Lavender re-inker) I again struggled to get the powder to adhere to the ink for the first layer, but it became easier to apply further layers to the hot sticky UTEE, rather than reinking the surface inbetween each application. However, the UTEE melted quickly and evenly and only took three layers to achieve a reasonable coverage and smooth glossy glaze. There was no adverse reactions when heat was applied, the colour remained reasonably true to the original powder form.

The following photos show close ups of the blocks of colour achieved by glazing the mount board tiles. Custom colouring UTEE results in a transparent glaze of colour rather than a solid opaque one and there is slight pigment separation, which on closer inspection shows up as mottling or flecking. This is good if you want a distressed or mottled look....and stays true to the distressed colours and attitude of the Tim Holtz range... but if you want a good solid opaque colour, then it is best to use manufactured coloured embossing powders. A slightly darker even look could be achieved if a coloured embossing ink was used underneath rather than the clear one that was used in this experiment. The conclusion is that the Alcohol Ink and Liquid Food Colouring treated UTEEs achieved the best colour, with the Paste Food Colouring being the worst.

Alcohol Ink (Butterscotch)

Liquid Food Colouring (Rose Pink)
Paste Food Colouring (Baby Blue)

Distress Ink (Milled Lavender re-inker)
1.Alcohol Ink 2.Liquid Food Colouring 3.Paste Food Colouring 4.Distress Ink (reinker)

THE FLEXIBILITY & CRACK TEST - all four tiles were left to cool and harden, then flexed to see how much pressure and bending it would take to get the glaze to crack. The Alcohol Ink and Liquid Food Colouring treated UTEEs proved to be the hardest enamels therefore cracked pretty easily. The Paste Food Colouring and Distress Ink treated UTEEs were much softer enamels and took a fair bit of bending in order to get some cracks....to the point the mount boards were creased and slightly damaged. Awaiting images....

DAY 3 CONCLUSION -

Mixing the four choosen colourants into the dry UTEE powder BEFORE heating and melting proved possible to achieve but with varying degrees of ease....and is safe to do (*see previous note re the alcohol ink treatment*)
All the colour treated UTEEs were safe to apply heat to, via a HEAT TOOL, and all melted easily with no adverse side effects..... but showed varying results in the final look
All the colour treated UTEEs showed little or no change to the colour shade when melted but all did show varying degrees of mottling/colour separation.
Only the Alcohol Ink and Liquid Food Colouring treated UTEEs adhered to the embossing ink with ease in both tests...possibly concluding that the other two mixes (Paste Food Colouring and Distress Ink) were too moist and sticky with too course a grain. This might be remedied by using smaller amounts of colourant in ratio to the powder and leaving to dry out at room temperature for a week or possibly more. These first two are suitable for using in the stamped heat embossing technique....but not advised on finely detailed images.

However, All four colour treated UTEEs proved they could be used to emboss and glaze larger surface areas (blocks of colour)....but needed varying quantities of powders and layer applications to achieve a smooth glazed effect.
I cannot draw any conclusion as to whether colourants with high water content are unsuitable for colour treating UTEE for embossing due to the fact that the two Food Colourings behaved in the opposite way to what was expected. The Liquid Colouring dried out quickly and proved to be a successful colourent for the UTEE for embossing but the paste version remained too moist and sticky to use.

Different types of colourants seem to affect the flexibility of the glaze/enamel once melted then cooled. The Alcohol Ink and the Liquid Food Colouring treated UTEEs hardened significantly with a nice glossy finish and cracked easily with little or no damage done to the board....but the two worst performing colourants were much softer and more flexible. It took a while to bend and fold the mount board tiles before there was any sign of cracking....so these two colourants are not so suitable to use should the cracked glazed technique be something you want to do.

So, there you go....I hope you found Day 3 of interest....now it's on to the REALLY important stuff....Day 4, which will be covering coloured UTEEs in THE MELT POT (Yipppeeeee!)......but you'll have to wait a little longer for that one.....I'm off for a couple of days doing other 'stuff' and I've also had to mix up some more batches of the UTEE mixtures which need drying out....so that I've got plenty for the fun I'm going to have.....can't wait.

PHEW!...that's a fair bit of info to wade through! It's taken me hours to get this post published (darn it Blogger!) and now it's gone midnight and I'm all boggle eyed, tired and off to bed.....see yas in a couple of days time for the next installment of The Great UTEE Experiment!

*UPDATE - 28 june 2011 - just to let you know that I mixed up larger quantities of the powders yesterday and used less Paste Food Colouring and Distress Ink colourants. The consistency of the UTEE treated with the Paste seems much improved and the grains seem to be seperating and drying out better....so that may be looking good. The Distress Ink however....no change at all and it's still sticky and clumped up even though I used the teeniest weeniest drop of ink to colour with.*

THE GREAT UTEE EXPERIMENT - DAY 2

2011-06-26T22:26:00.006+01:00

Well, yesterday - day 1 of the experiment, I was left with the four coloured ramekins of powder in the following state.The Ranger Alcohol Ink coloured UTEE proved to be the best result (top left - butterscotch) with the powder little changed in consistency and the other ones all in varying degrees of wet and sticky state. The Liquid Food Colouring (bottom right - rose pink/orange) being the second best, the Paste Food colouring (blue) third best and the Distress Ink re-inker (bottom left - milled lavender) the worst of the lot.

Now, as I normally leave my Alcohol Ink coloured UTEE for a good 24hours to make sure all the alcohol has evaporated off before using in a MeltPot, I decided that the 2nd days experiment would be all about whether the embossing powders had changed or dried out further during that 24hour 'rest period'.......

DAY 2

'24 hour rest period and 'Sprinkleability'

.....but only a few hours into that experiment I noticed something interesting and surprising happening...

.....and that was that the Liquid Food Coloured powder was starting to dry out and alter in consistency.

The Liquid Food Colouring treated UTEE was showing a difference...and seemed to be drying out. The Paste and Distress Ink coloured UTEEs however stayed the same.
24 hours later and the Result and change was significant......

Whilst there was no further change or sign of the Paste and Distress Ink coloured UTEEs drying out...the Liquid Food Colouring treated UTEE had dried out and altered in consistence to match exactly that of the Alcohol Ink coloured powder. It was fine and all the grains had seperated out and it's 'sprinkleability' was looking very promising!

Now this wasn't really what I was expecting as this colourant had a high liquid consistency and I thought this one, if any would have proved the worst to use.
So, todays experiment conclusion is that after 24 hours 'resting period' the Alcohol Ink, although remaining constant in it's consitancy from the start, had had it's alcohol evaporated off and was safe to use and was in an excellent state of 'sprinkleability'. The Liquid Food Colouring treated UTEE had dried out the the same consistency and therefore was in an excellent state of 'sprinkleability'. The Paste and Distress Ink coloured UTEEs had had no further changes to their consistency, were still sticky and heavy grained and the 'sprinkleability' was looking very poor.

Looking at these powders only the conclusion was drawn that the Alcohol Ink and Liquid Food Colouring treated powders were in a state good enough to use for stamp heat embossing. The other two were not looking like they would be good for stamp heat embossing......

....but as they say....the proof of the pudding is in the eating...except, I'm not going to eat the powder....I'm going to emboss with it......

....and that's what I'll be doing tomorrow in Day3 of 'The Great UTEE Experiment'.

See ya'll then!

Customising UTEE Colours and 'The Great UTEE Experiment'

2011-06-25T22:34:00.020+01:00

I first discovered you could custom colour clear UTEE (Ulta Thick Embossing Enamel) on Tim Holtzs first 'Journey' DVD - where he created co-ordinating powders using his Ranger Alcohol Inks. By following the proceedure carefully, and safely, you can make your own colour range and quantities to match his Ranger colour scheme (Distress Inks, Dabbers, papers etc)...and even go a step further by mixing together inks to create new shades and expand the palette even more so.
Because of the alcohol content in the inks, and the fact you're working with heat (via heat tool or Melt Pot) there are specific instructions to follow when preparing and creating coloured powders due to the flammable nature of the alcohol. Alcohol inks should NEVER be put directly into the Meltpot...or onto molten UTEE...or used near naked flames or extreme heat (be it from a heat tool, or candle....or a dragon....that is, should you ever have a dragon in your craft room! etc etc etc). The instructions on how to do this will be going on my tutorials website very soon....so please stop by and check it out should you decide to have a go at colourising your own UTEE.

Anyways....after recently discussing the technique on a craft forum, it has led to a number of questions being raised...

'Can you use any other inks or substances, rather than alcohol inks, to colourise your UTEE powder?.....and would it be a safer option?'

A few suggesstions were made....and me, being the inquisitive kind and up for a bit of messy crafting fun, decided to put it all to the test. And so, today I started......

'The Great UTEE Experiment'

Thinking and looking ahead, I knew this wasn't going to be a quick 5 min test, and it was actually going to take probably 3 or even 4 days to complete and come to any reasonable conclusion. Why?....well all will become clear as you read on.....

DAY ONE

'THE COLOURING TEST'

TOOLS USED - 1 tub of clear UTEE, 4 glass ramekins, 4 mini measuring spoons, 4 cocktail sticks, Non-stick craft sheet, tissues for cleaning and latex gloves to prevent staining of hands.

PRODUCTS TESTED - 1. Alcohol Ink (butterscotch) 2. Distress Ink (re-inker) 3. Liquid Food Colouring (Rose) 4. Concentrated Paste Food Colouring (Baby Blue)

THE RESULTS NOTED - 1. Ease of mixing and time taken to complete 2.Colour distribution 3.Consistency and appearance of powder granules.

I was partic interested in the 'sprinkleability' - a totaly made up word (but pretty cool huh?) that's my description of the powder dryness and consistency and whether it is suitable for heat embossing on a stamped image. Each substance was measured out in as equal a quantity as possible and the same mixing techniques used to maintain a fair test and comparison. Each ramekin was given four heaped spoonfuls of UTEE and just one drop/measurement of colourant was mixed at a time.

1.Ranger ALCOHOL INKS

One drop of the ink mixed into the powder very easily and quickly. It initially 'balls' up but with swift stirring this disperses quickly and the powder takes on an even colour true to that of the original ink. The alcohol evaporates of into the atmosphere reasonably quickly which means the powder remains quite dry and in it's original powdery state...and so is still good for sprinkling over stamped images for heat embossing, and for using in a melt pot. The colour is more a transparent one, rather than opaque. It is possible to add further ink to darken the colour should you wish and this is best done in stages, a little at a time, mixing well between each addition of ink.

2.Ranger DISTRESS INKS (in a re-inker bottle)

The re-inker bottle comes with a handy pippette/dropper attached in the lid so this is proved easy to add one drop to the UTEE powder in the remekin....however, as I started to mix it in, it became apparent that the water content in the ink was having a big impact on the powder. It took a little longer to mix the powder to achieve an even colour distribution than with the alcohol ink........but the powder became sticky and moist and the granules clung together in a clump....to the point that it stuck to the spoon and I even managed to turn the ramekin upside down and non fell out! The conclusion to this, is that although the ink coloured the powder extremely well, the consistency of the resulting mix seems to be very unsuitable for stamp heat embossing - it would be very difficult to sprinkle this evenly over an image. This however would not effect the ability to be placed in a Melt Pot.

3. LIQUID FOOD COLOURING

I have to admit, that after seeing the result of the distress ink mix, I was very doubtful to the success of this one due to the high liquid content and believed the same or similar conclusion would be drawn. One drop of the colouring took slightly longer to mix in, balling up quickly so that I had to go in with a spoon to mash it in and get an even distribution of colour. Once mixed, the colour was very pleasing, if somewhat slightly different to the original liquid colour (more peachy/orange than rose pink). The final result was surprisingly better than the Distress Inks....but still pretty sticky and moist enough to prevent using for stamp heat embossing. The particlea were slightly dryer than the D Inks but still nowhere near that of the Alcohol Ink coloured UTEE.

4. PASTE FOOD COLOURING

Seeings as this is a concentrated paste rather than a liquid, I had higher hopes for this colourant. The whole point of the paste is to allow you to colour fondants, icing, flower/sugar paste and marzipans etc with altering that foodstuffs consistency too much. Being highly concentrated in pigment only tiny amounts are needed.....if you colour the food with liquid colourings, you find that you tend to have to add much more to achieve a true colour and because of it's high liquid content, this can make the foodstuffs too sticky and unstable.
So, bearing this in mind, I thought the paste would prove the most successful in the experiments and not make the powder to wet or sticky. I used a tiny amount, applied witha cocktail stick, and immediately found it not mixing in well at all.....in fact it took 3 times longer to completely mix it in compared to the Liquid Food Colouring. It ball up badly and needed mashing down with a spoon so that it could be thoroughly distributed throughout the powder. Once mixed, the colour was fantastic....more vibrant than I thought it would be...however the consistency was a bitter disapointment....more sticky and moist than that mixed with the Liquid Food Colouring (which I was not expecting) so not ideal, at this point in time, to use for stamp heat embossing.

THE RESULTS & CONCLUSION -

. As you can see in this comparison picture above the difference in mixture consistency is quite apparent. Shown left to right - Distress reinker, Alcohol Ink, Liquid Food Colouring, and Paste Food Colouring.

So, there you go....my initial reactions are that the Alcohol Inks still prove the best colourants for the UTEE...especially if you require a coloured powder for using in stamp heat embossing techniques....

BUT.....In order for me to reach a reasonable conclusion I have decided to now leave all the powders for 24 hours to see if they have changed or altered in their consistency in any way. I always do this with any Alcohol Ink coloured UTEE to make doubly sure all the alcohol has evaporated off and it's deemed safe to apply to heat....so it only seems fair to treat the others in the same way before ttempting further testing.

And so now we wait....and I'll return back with the results of day two of my 'Grand UTEE Experiment'

NEW FLOWER TUTORIALS!

2011-06-24T21:29:00.005+01:00

Hiya all.....been pretty busy of late....STILL trying to tie up the loose ends of the house decorating which seems to be dragging on a fair bit. Everytime I start, something else more important crops up which means the project gets abandoned...oh well...things WILL get finished one day!

Oh, and now house renovation project number 3 is also in progress...thankfully something that is out of my hands and being completed by the professionals.....phew! so it's due to be all done by this weekend and I can't wait. I'll blog about that sometime next week when the before and after photos are uploaded!

Anyways....as the title of this post suggests....I have a couple of new flower tutorials for you to check out...over on my FLORAL FANCIES website.

I've been making ribbon flowers...something a little different and non-paper for all you crafters to try putting a hand to. They're well worth the effort...in fact pretty simple to create with only a teensy weensy bit of sewing involved!

This first installment of the Ribbon Flowers section covers three variations of a technique using individual pieces of ribbon, folded and stitched to form single petals which are then assembled to form a flower......or even left as is to be used as a leaf.

There is this lovely simple 'Stitch and Fold' Flower.

This rather more freeform and loose 'Twist and Fold' Flower........

....and the same technique, but this time using a wire edged ribbon, which achieves a totally different look.

I've also added details of a 'Knot and Fold' variation but the images are not quite ready to upload yet.

You can find all the details here - http://agnestheredtutorials2.webs.com/ribbontechniques.htm

and you may have also noticed I've started adding a few paper flower tuts too...just very basic ones for now and I'll be uploading slightly more complex ones later on.

http://agnestheredtutorials2.webs.com/papertechniques.htm

....and just a quick reminder....these tutorials are for the BASIC techniques...not for complete craft projects. The whole intention of this website is to give YOU the basic instructions...and then it's up to YOU to use them, expand on them, embellish further, stretch your imagination and create your own floral works of art!

Enjoy!

TATTY BUTTON SHOWS - CREATE & CRAFT

2011-06-08T18:58:00.005+01:00

DON'T MISS! - Two 1 hour shows for Tatty Button products on Create&Craft tomorrow with Sue Wilson.

Sue is standing in at last minute for Jo Channon who has sadly being taken ill - Get well soon Jo! XXX

Thursday 9th June 2011. First show 9am and second will be at 3pm. Create&Craft Channel - Sky671 FREEVIEW36 FREESAT813

You can check out show and item details here -

http://www.createandcraft.tv/tvSchedule.aspx?mediaId=10

Also, check out Sues own Particraft Blog where she keeps you up to date with Creative Expressions products and photos of great cards that she makes -

http://www.particraft.blogspot.com/

Create & Craft 26th April

2011-04-25T20:57:00.005+01:00

Creative Expressions have a number of slots on the Create & Craft channel tomorrow...including a whole hour dedicated to Tatty Button.

Watch Joe Channon demonstrate techniques and samples using the stamp range and interactive CD -

Tuesday 26th April at 1pm-2pm

(times and content subject to change)

SKY 671.....FREEVIEW 36.....FREESAT 813.....or sign up free to watch on your computer at tvcatchup.com

Hiya...so you want more tuts?

2011-04-19T12:56:00.004+01:00

Popping by to say a quick hello....I've had some very busy weekends of late and my joints have paid the price...so not much art/craftwork done and now I'm making the most of the dry sunny weather to tidy up the garden and get a few jobs done around the house....

however...due to the success of the Shabby Chic flower tutorial that I posted on here and many requests for similar I've decided to do some more. But instead of posting them on the blog where they might become a little lost, I've decided to extend my tutorials website to include a whole one stop section dedicated to tutorials for all art and craft flowers...thats paper, ribbon, plastic, fabrics....metals...you name it... I'll be trying it out! The website is currently under construction and as it's just me...a one woman show setting up the tuts, taking the pics, building the website it'll take time and will have to be fitted inbetween all other work....so bear with me! I am hoping to get the first of the tuts launched in the next week or so.

I guess it was about time I added some new fresh work to the tuts website but I also forgot how time consuming it can be LOL! In the meanwhile I've also been tidying up the sites and trying to sort out all those stray images and adding a bit more colour to the backgrounds etc.

http://www.freewebs.com/agnestheredtutorials/

Well...gotto go...the washing machine has just finished another load so need to go hang it all outside to dry. That's the downside of sunny weather...clothes dry quicker....more washing done....equals more ironing URGHHHH!!!!!

TATTY BUTTON - CREATE & CRAFT

2011-03-31T09:13:00.009+01:00

Quick heads up folks!

SEE TATTY BUTTON on CREATE and CRAFT tv channel TODAY Thursday 31st March

Next shows 11am and 4pm

(with Jo Channon)

also

Friday 1st April 9am and 1pm

(with Sue Wilson)

and

Saturday 2nd April 11am and 3pm

(with Jo Channon)

(please note time and content could be subject to change)

SKY 671 FREEVIEW 36 (8am-1pm only) FREESAT 813 or watch live on

http://www.createandcraft.tv/

Paper Flower Technique No1

2011-03-30T17:33:00.038+01:00

SHABBY CHIC WATER AND PAPER FLOWERS TECHNIQUE -

Papers and thicknesses of paper can vary...as can other peoples techniques...but this is how I do mine to suit this type of paper that I use and it's quite a basic to follow so you can further adapt, colour, ink up, distress and add embellishments etc to your requirements.

1. Select your paper. Here just a few examples of what I use. I try to use a good heavyweight paper and one that is printed both sides...preferably with a good contrast. These particular papers already have a lovely distressed design, are plain on one side and patterned on the other so no further stamping, inking up required. If you are thinking of colouring and preworking your paper, bear in mind it may be affected by the water and run or smudge.2. Tools required - paper, flower shapes (templates, die cuts etc), scissors, pencil, brad, water in a spritzer and a waterproof craft sheet and heat tool are also useful. Select your flower design - There are a number of ways in which you can get flower shapes - ready made and purchased, die cut (by hand machine or electric such as a cricuit), punched or...

...like in my case drawn using templates and cut out by hand. I wanted a specific design so I drew out the shapes onto scrap paper in three graduating sizes. I will at a later date transfer these designs onto Doeflex to make more permanent templates. I then drew out two of each size.3. Draw out shapes then cut them out. Because you are soaking the paper in water, and scrunching the shapes up, there is no real need to be precise with your cutting. As long as you don't deviate too much from the basic shape...the randomness adds to the shabby chic look.

4. Place all the flower shapes together, layer them up with largest pieces at the bottom, graduating down in size so that the smallest are on the top.

Then pierce a hole through the centre and secure all the pieces together with a brad.

5. Turn over and open out the brad to secure the shapes together. You can see in this photo that I've used paper with a nice contrast to the sides in colour and pattern. 6. Take a moment to organize the layers, turn each one to space out the petal shapes and make it look more like a natural petal formation.7. Place on worksurface and spritz with water. Go easy and lightly at first...depending on how absorbant the paper is you can always add more as you go along...but overdo it you can not take away the water. You may end up over saturating the paper and ending up with a sodden disintergrated mess! 8. Taking the first top layer, gather up the paper petals into the centre, up over the brad and pinch firmly but gently. Take care not to twist the paper or it will tear.9. Repeat with each layer...lifting up towards the centre and squeezing together.10. The wet layers might stick together...so use a pointed tool, tweezers or something like a cocktail stick to gently ease apert the petals.11. Keep lifting and squeezing together the layers...and if any feel too dry, lightly spritz with more water. 12.Squeeze and gently manipulate all the petals together into a tight bud shape.13.Now the flower bud is ready to bloom! Place it base down on the worksurface. It may start unfurling itself...but more often than not it needs a little encouragement. So use your fingers or a cocktail stick etc to start pulling open each layer of petals.14. Open up to the level that you require. I left this one not quite fully opened and still with quite a tight centre of petals so the brad remains hidden. If you have set in a decorative brad, you may want to open out the petals further to expose it.

15. You can leave the flower to dry out naturally in it's own time but the danger of that is that during this phase it might open out further than you want. To speed up the process and 'set' the flower more quickly give it a blast with a heat tool, taking care not to over heat or singe/burn the paper. Here's another one I made in a plain colour.

It is opened out much more than the first one.......as you can see here with them side by side.

The lovely thing about this flower making technique is that you don't necessarily have to use flower petal shapes to create one. So if you haven't got any flower shaped dies, or punches...and don't feel confident enough to draw and cut out your own....

You can make them with basic circle shape...and the result is just as pretty!

1. Here I used a technical drawing stencil to draw out three different sized circles....two of each.

2. The graduating sized circles were assembled just the same as in the previous instructions...and set with a brad. 3. Four basic cuts were made around the piece with scissors.4. The technique above was then followed, with the paper spritzed with water, and each layer drawn up and pinched together to form a bud then opened out.And here are all three together. As you can see I made a very small flower using the circles. The largest circle being just 1 inch diam...but there is no limit to the size you can make these. I would also suggest that flowers made bigger would benefit from more layers...but it really depends on the type of flower and effect you wish to achieve. The particular paper that I have use soaked up the water well and the fibres started to relax and seperate, giving a lovely soft look and texture to the paper...almost like fabric. The green flower looks like velvet!

Once dry, these flowers are ready to use...and you can embellish or decorate them even further. In a previous blog post, the three shabby chic flowers I attached to a card were rubbed over with a bit of diamond glaze, then some antique gold gilding paste, just to highlight the petal edges. You could rub in inks, add glitter, dip in UTEE...spray with shimmer sprays etc.

I hope you found this tutorial interesting and useful....and if you make some yourselves I'd love to know how you get on.

Calling all you Crafty Paper Detectives out there...

2011-03-30T12:42:00.007+01:00

Do you recognise these papers?

A number of years ago I found a nice bargain in Costco....a lovely zipped folder type bag with 300 12"x12" sheets of double sided printed heavyweight paper (I'd guess 250gm..ish). 75 designs...4 sheets of each in gorgeous earthy lush colours and distressed type patterns which have proved to be the main staple of my card and papercrafting...and even 3 years on I still have plenty left. They match a number of the Ranger/Tim Holtz colour palette perfectly which is why they proved such a big hit to me.

I've been asked a number of times who they are made by...and I'm ashamed to say I can't remember...only that it was an American company (hence stocked by Costco). I blogged about it at the time of purchase but didn't give the name. I vaguely remember looking up their website but discovering a site and trade company I hadn't heard of...and one I couldn't buy from. For some reason I never made or kept note of the company details...and now I want them GRRRRR! MY BAD LOL!

At £2oish the price worked out at about 7p per sheet...not including the carrier which I have seen lesser quality versions on sale at around £10-£15 so not long after I went back to greedily buy more (gotta stock up a bargain when you see one!) but sadly they had sold out and I never saw them in stock again. It's some of the best quality paper for the price that I've ever used and would love to get more...and also let others know where to get it from too. I took these photos of the packaging back in 2008 but unfortunately not of any company details and this packaging is now long gone.

it's a long shot...but PLEASE HELP....DO ANY OF YOU LOT RECOGNISE THIS BRAND?

Please let me know...

Ta muchly!

Shabby Chic Paper Flower Card.

2011-03-30T11:15:00.009+01:00

In between artwork and life stuff over the past week, I've managed to fit in a bit of experimenting with making paper flowers using various techniques.

The whole thing came about from a visit to a local garden centre and where I saw a display of french style shabby chic furniture...all white and cream crackled and distressed woods and metal which had been scattered with dark reds and burgundy dried roses and pale duck egg blue ribbons. The effect and colour combination was very pretty and striking and I was immediately inspired to use this in a project. I made a note of the colours (the wonders of having small camera phones that you can quickly take reference photos in shops without arousing too much suspicion!) and thought it'd be nice to use this palatte and effect on a card.

After sketching out a few designs, I settled on a square card with an apperture cut out into which I would set a small group of paper flowers and ribbon. Once, I'd got my design, got the right papers and paints and the right colour combination the final thing was to decide was what type of flowers to use. There are a number of paper flower techniques...each giving different effects so I set about making up a few to see what would work best with the card. With the overall look of the card being shabby chic, the technique I finally settled on was one where you cut out layers of flower shapes in different sizes, attached them together with a brad, then soaked the paper with water to soften it up...which meant I could scrunch up the petals and manipulate them to create a dimensional shape with a soft ruffled effect. When the wet paper was creased up, the colour and print broke down in places which added to the distressed shabby look...so there was no need to pre-distress the paper before hand!

And here's the final piece -

The main 'frame' is mountboard 6inch square into which I cut out an apperture using a spellbinders die as a template. I also cut out a smaller piece in the same design to use as a label later on. Both pieces were painted with white acrylic paint, then once dried, coated with Ranger/Tim Holtz Clear Rock Candy Crackle glaze and blitzed with a heat tool so speed up the crackling. I then rubbed Antique Linen and Broken China distress inks over the glaze and gently rubbed it into the textured board to accentuate the crackles and give the board a more 'dirtied up' shabby look. The temptation was then to get out the stamps and add in a few flourishes and patterns and some script...but after an initial test on another 'proto type' piece I decided it was too fussy. So, the card was going to remain stamp image free and kept quite clean and simple in design so as to showcase the crackle effect and paper flowers.

Three flowers were created, as mentioned above, using double sided paper in the same creams, burgundy and blue palette. There was no need to further distress them, but I did rub a little diamond glaze, and a bit of old gold rub n buff gilding paste over the petal edges. A couple of leaves were made using the same card stock, and a ribbon embellishment (using that seam binding tape that is all the rage at the moment) which was dyed using the same Distress Inks that was used to treat the crackle glaze.

More matching paper was layered behind the apperture and the the whole thing assembled. A small piece of chain was attached to the small label, using brads. This will be where I write/stamp the recipients name and sentiment (I've left it blank for now so as not to spoil the surprize). Once all glues and inks were dry, I went over the piece, edges and ribbon with little touches of Walnut Stain Distress Ink to add more darker notes and depth. So, are you now wondering where are the photos are of all those other flowers I made? Well...I'm keeping them back a while as I'm going to blog a tutorial on them...soon...hopefully!

Right...I'm off to go finish painting some box canvases. Hope you enjoyed this blog post and like my Shabby Chic Paper Flower Card...I hope the recipient does too!

A quick post....

2011-03-28T13:00:00.005+01:00

Just to show you what I've been up to inbetween doing commission work, rugby, home decorating and general life stuff...

I've been having a bit of a play with making some Tatty Button 'Bags for Life' lightweight cotton canvas shopping bags. The bags have been transfer printed with the original Tatty Button pencil sketch. I'm really pleased how it turned out and now thinking that some further dimensional embellishments may be called for.....real wood buttons and a bag charm perhaps?

They've had a fair bit of positive feedback from friends and family.

This is the original artwork (below) that the image was taken from....with additional Tatty button flowers added.

As many of you are aware, this is one of a range of images that have been adapted and made into craft rubber stamps, and an interactive cd (with colour images), by Creative Expressions and they can be purchased from a number of Craft and Art retail stores.

TATTY BUTTON INFO - IMPORTANT PLEASE READ!

2011-03-15T15:41:00.002Z

Hi everyone,

I just need to clear this up with people again...

I'm delighted with the response from the recent launch of Tatty Button stamps and CD and thank you and appreciate all the wonderful feedback (keep it coming!)...

...but I need to make it clear again that I am NOT an employee of Creative Expressions. I'm a freelance illustrator and artist who just created the Tatty images for them to use.

If you seek details or advice on Creative Expressions products incl Tatty Button then you must contact them directly....not me, as I am going to be of very little help.

I am in no position to advise on Creative Expressions (or related) products and I cannot and will not give out details on ANY past or upcoming products and certainly cannot authorise use of any of their images. I urge you, to avoid any unnecessary time wasting, confusion or embarrassment, to use the appropriate links on their websites to find the details/contact you require. I'm afraid I'm not the right person to contact.

http://www.creative-expressions.uk.com/

Once again, thanks for your wonderful support and ta muchly for your understanding.

XXX Ange XXX

TATTY TAGS!

2011-02-28T12:53:00.007Z

One Stamp, one technique, six colour schemes...six different looks!

I made a set of six tags last week, using the main Tatty Button image and a resist technique that was inspired by an article in an ATC workshop book by Bernie Berlin and a project in Craft Stamper magazine. I wanted to see if I could create six different looks just by changing the colour schemes and embellishments.

The first three were created using brightly coloured acrylic paints...staying true to the magazine project. The pink/purple colour scheme tag has lots of nice silver highlights in it that don't show very well in the photo but I think I want to add more silver at some point....maybe some silver wire either threaded into the fibres or wrapped around the actual tag.
The final three were created using more natural shades and distress look with Tim Holtz Distress inks.......I think these three are my favourites. The red/pink shades tag hasn't really been done justice in this photo....it's really quite pretty. Close up of this tag shows how I also splattered the coloured tag with water droplets...so that they reacted with the Distress Inks and gave it a more distressed and aged look. I also stamped and cut out three of the Tatty Flower image and layered them up for a dimensional embellishment.

Close up of the green shades tag with a wooden button embellishment. This my favourite tag.

I didn't have time to photograph each individual stage of the resist technique but I'm going to do a mini tutorial on it here very soon...so watch this space!

Tatty Button Suppliers Info

2011-02-22T15:11:00.003Z

I'm getting a lot of requests for info on who will be stocking the stamps and cd.

Well, firstly, I believe orders start going out until this week....so items will hopefully be hitting shelves and webshops within 2weeks but I don't really know yet who exactly have ordered except for a couple......that info is Creative Expressions side of things as really I only design the images and am not employed by them or deal with the sales/orders.

Creative Expressions do not sell to the public (except at their annual show 'Ally Pally') and only supply to trade....so if you wish to find out who your nearest retail stockists are, their website has a store finder. If you are a craft retailer and wish to become a CE stockist, then the contact details are all there too.

http://www.creative-expressions.uk.com/index.php

As time goes on I hope to be able to compile a list of retailers who stock Tatty Button products, and then share the details here.

Hope this helps for now

Ange x

STITCHES & THE TATTY BUTTON LAUNCH!

2011-02-22T12:59:00.015Z

Just a quick update and upload of some photos of the Creative Expressions Stand at 'Stitches' Trade show NEC Birmingham Feb2011 where the launch of the first range of Tatty Button stamps and interactive cd took place.

I had a great two days mooching around all the other stands, checking out new products coming out soon (some really great stuff happening!), meeting up with the wonderful design team and staff at Creative Expressions...and chatting to customers.

A BIG THANKYOU goes to all at Creative Expressions for making this happen...and to the amazingly talented team who created some fabulous card examples...each with their own individual look. I hope you are as proud of this as I am!

The Creative Expressions Stand - Five demo tables with Nigel from Card Creations, Spellbinders guest demonstrator, Jo Channon, Karen Lines and Sue Wilson...all doing a sterling job of exhibiting the new Creative Expressions lines and products....including Tatty Button, of course! You can just see me chatting to Karen (I'm the red head with the black&grey check shirt).

HERE SHE IS! The Tatty Button display! I love the look of the packaging, nice clean lines in simple colours that make the images pop! Inside you will find a precut AND mounted stamp (YAY! no need messing around trying to cut out and stick onto foam yourself), plus two examples of cards you can make.

TWO WONDERFUL LADIES! - Jo and Karen, taking a breather from a second day of demoing.

Tatty Button card examples made by the talented designers at Creative Expressions.Well, we know what WE can do with her...I'm now looking forward to what everyone else can make!

ME! - Day two, standing by the Tatty display...looking rather sheepish and having a bad hair day...and hating having my photo taken gggrrrrrrr!

Some of my cards and projects were on display on Karen's table. I wanted to show that the stamps were just a good used on dimensional projects, as they were for card craft

ON THE BIG SCREEN! - The interactive cd, created by the lovely Nigel of Card Creations who launched and demoed the product. There's some very interesting and new features on this, not previously seen on their cd products. Great job Nigel!

Sue Wilson and Karen Lines busy at work with demos. More wonderful and pretty Tatty Button card examples.

IN GOOD COMPANY! - Tim and Tatty products were display neighbours.

WEBSITE APOLOGIES!

2011-02-20T20:45:00.002Z

This is really slack of me...but I haven't updated my old websites for a while (slap wrist!) or even visited it since I do not do tutorials anymore. So when I got a notification this evening that someone had blog linked to my tutorial site...I thought I'd best go on over there to familiarise myself with it again....

...and I'm appalled at what I found.

Since the web provider changed, some of the pages have gotton all messed up with pictures and text all out of place and missaligned....please don't ask how or why as I'm no techie as far as web building is concerned...but jeeeeze it looks a mess and very amature! A similar thing happened a while back when they altered the formatting and it affected the blog sections...it was extremely difficult to sort out and in frustration I left the blog and moved it here. It now looks like the rest of the website pages have gone the same route!

I'd like to apologise to all who have visited my tutorial website of late as I was unaware of the situation....and I'm dismayed as it gives the impression that I've just slapped the tutorials all together with little care....when the truth is I spent many many hours slaving away to set up those pages perfectly...and it certainly was not in that state last time I checked it out.

I shall spend a bit of time next week going over all the pages to rectify the errors...and hopefully putting it all back in place just how it should be GRRRRRR!

VERY SORRY FOLKS!

Ange Lee Arts & Crafts

2011-02-17T14:01:00.002Z

Check out my new Facebook page...dedicated to all my new artwork and crafts projects. Join Facebook, visit me and hit that 'LIKE' button please!

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Ange-Lee-Arts-Crafts/193987797291485

Piece de resistance.....

2011-02-16T11:27:00.007Z

TATTY BUTTON STAMP PROJECTS II

My final dimensional project for the moment...and I thought it deserved a blog post of it's own. I've got to say this has been a labour of love, has taken me the best part of two weeks to complete inbetween working on the other projects....BUT I'M SOOOO PLEASED WITH HOW IT TURNED OUT!

THE TATTY BUTTON GRUNGE PAPER PATCHWORK BAG

Sadly I do have to say that this isn't my own design entirely. Credit must go to ANNELIESE BATES who did a wonderful project in the October 2009 edition of Craft Stamper magazine...I have been itching to do this one for a long time and now the Tatty Button stamps are available, decided to have a go using them. I have done a little adapting of Annalieses design mainly due to my limited materials available, but it does stay reasonably true to her original style.

The Patches are individual squares of Tim Holtz Grunge Paper that have been inked (Distress inks) and the either stamped with Tatty Button images (plus a couple of other pattern stamps) or embossed using various plates for texture. The patches were hand stiched together to form panels for the two main sides.

Unlike Annelieses bag, mine is much smaller, consisting of nine patches per panel, rather than fifteen. I also lined my bag with canvas fabric and edged the top with fabric. Anneliese lined her bag with extra panels of Grunge Paper and left the edges raw. The lining I left in it's original natural colour, and stamped over it using small Tatty Button embellishment stamps.

The end panels and base of the bag are single pieces of Grunge Paper, inked up with Distress inks and embossed. This one in the photo is a Creative Expressions embossing plate design by Sam Poole and goes very well with the Tatty Button range...and of course it's only right to use something of Creative Expressions...after all they are the company producing my stamp designs.

Anneliese used patterned 7 Gypsies Gaffer Tape and Tim Holtz Idea-ology metal componants for the handles and attachments...which I unfortunately didn't have to hand. I think those pieces lend a much more professional finish to her bag, but I had to make do with some simple brass eyelets and black fabric tape, hand sewn to match the patchwork stitching...I still think they work well though, and the black handles tie in with the black edging around the top of the bag and highlight the black ink of the stamped images. Looking at the photos now though, I think the brass is too new and shiny looking so will probably give them a wipe over with some inks to tone the 'brassyness' down.

Tatty Button Projects

2011-02-16T10:08:00.012Z

Well, after the intial gazing happily at the lovely pristine new Tatty Button rubber stamps that arrived, not wanting to get them dirty (how sad is that...I'm usually chomping at the bit to work with new stamps!)...and getting over my slight nervousness that these are MY designs and I have to think of something to make with them that does them justice....

....I've finally come up with a small selection of projects that I think shows that the designs are very workable and have scope...from distressed effects to downright pretty and girly. I have a number still WIP and will upload photos once completed...but for now here are a few finished pieces.

'HEART HANGER' - This piece shows that the stamps can be used to create embossed metal projects. I used the 'Best Friends' image and stamped with black Stazon ink onto silver craft metal sheet, then used various metal embossing tools (TenSecondsStudio) and a foam mat to trace around and in the design to create depth and texture. The back was filled in with polyfiller (speckle) to stop the embossed areas from getting crushed or flattened and once dried, mounted into a chipboard heart frame which was completey covered in pink handmade mulberry paper to seal it all up securely. After setting eyelets and attaching a chain I set about making embellishments. The two flowers were created by stamping the plain Tatty Flower image three time (for each flower) onto metal sheet, cut out and shaped and layered to create dimensional petals. I felt the metal looked to bright and shiny, so toned it all down a bit by working black stazon ink into the metal. This, not only brought out the embossing but gave it a nice gunmetal colour finish.
'PONY PAL CARD' - The original Tatty Button drawings are sketchy graphite pencilwork in grey scale and when the images were adapted for the rubber stamps this look was sadly lost but I was determined to see if the stamps could actually be used to recreate that original pencil look again. I'm delighted to say it is possible...and this card shows it wonderfully. The stamp 'Pony Pal' was inked and stamped out in a pale grey then used as a guide to pencil and shade back in with HB graphite pencil. The completed image was then framed with cardstock, embossed (cuttlebug) and die cut (Spellbinders nesties) and embellished with co-ordinating ribbon and a small charm which is the 'Tatty Button' stamped on clear shrink plastic.

'PIP PENDANT' - I was keen to see how far I could go to create an 'ungirly' piece and although there are more stamp designs in the pipeline that I think would be more suited to this, rather than wait, I went for the small 'Pip Mouse' image that will be available in this first range. 'Pip' was stamped onto copper craft sheet and slightly distressed and hammered to create a bit of aging and texture. It was then mounted into a frame of embossed and silver inked Grunge Paper (Tim Holtz). The frame was assembled using cold connection technique (ie not soldered as it is fabric) by way of metal rivets (which can actually be removed so that the image can be replaced with something else) and then hung on heavy linked chain. I'm sitting on the fence over this piece at the moment as, I really like the idea, but not so keen on the choice of material used. I think I might rework this one at some point and perhaps used metal for the frame.'FAIRY SHOE' - And now for something really girly! I found the project and template for this shoe in an old CraftStamper magazine (I'll sort out links for this later and also give credit to the original designer of the piece once I find her name!) and is made out of Grunge Paper which I painted with white acrylic paint then stitched together using fluffy pink threads. It was given a spritz of Cosmic Shimmer Mist (Angel Mist) although this sadly doesn't show up very well in the photo and decorated with handrawn swirls. The 'Tatty Button' and 'small flowers' images were stamped and cut out of more grunge paper then attached and wings added with ironed and stamped fantasy fibres....and sections coloured pink with a Promarker. Further embellishments include silver glitter, gems and tiny silver bells.'CHARM BRACELET' - At some point I want to make pieces using all the individual stamps from this initial Tatty Button range but time is short at the moment so....I have made a 'showcase' charm bracelet using all the stamps on white frosted shrink plastic, with additional coloured and silver beads. I think the clean simple lines of the designs work well when shrunk down on this craft material...with no detail lost at all. I had fun making this bracelet and might have a go at making a coloured version at some point too.'PURPLE FLOWER TATTY CARD' - I wanted to concentrate more on the embellishment stamps in the range on this card, and so stamped out multiple 'flower' and 'leaves' images onto purple card and used them layered up to create a frame around a simple stamped 'Tatty Button' image. These flower stamps have a fair bit of scope and can be stamped out as outline only if desired and also cut out and shaped to create more dimensional paper flowers...more on that later!

'PIP MOUSE CARD' - The 'Pip' stamp comes in two sizes, one tiny stamp that is great for embellishments, and background papers etc and this one used in the card above, which is the larger version. This is just a simple stamped card showing the image stamped out in brown Tsukineko Memento ink and coloured in using ProMarkers. All the Stamp packages come with the images shown coloured in to help as guidence should you wish to create work in the original colours (as found in the cd) but obviously these stamps can also be coloured in any shade you wish!

'GREEN TATTY FLOWER CARD' - A card that shows the embellishment type stamps can stand alone from the main Tatty Button character images. Using co-ordinating patterned papers and cardstock, two 'flower' and 'leaf' stamps were stamped out and layered up multiple times to create depth. The stems were drawn in freehand using a black fineliner pen.

IT'S FINALLY HAPPENING!

2011-02-08T09:17:00.007Z

Wow.....sooooo much to tell but sooooo much I can't tell (or show)....now isn't that frustrating!

But I will let you into a little bit of my news......

If you follow my blog you'll know that there's been a few things in the pipeline regarding my Tatty Button (hence why as precaution and protection I shut down my other blog and all Tatty artwork was removed from my web sites). Well, I think I can now tell you she's going to be entering into the craft world...very soon!

It's all felt a little surreal what with how it all came about...but that's a story for later on. For now, I'll tell you I've been very busy over Christmas working on adapting the pencil Tatty artwork into suitable images for rubber stamps which are being made and marketed by a very good British company. When we all first met up last year to discuss what the requirements and plans were, and a date for the launch of the products...it all seemed an age away. The company have been lovely in keeping me in the loop on how all has been going....but really the process has felt a little weird. This has been something very new to me and a huge learning curve too. My head has been down, furiously reworking images and then seeing them disappear off into the post...and that was it...all out of my hands...and out of my control...

...a bit unnerving really! I've felt a bit like a new mom, sending her child off to school for their first day...my baby was being handed over to someone else and I was left wondering what was going on...and feeling a bit strange and empty...waiting....just waiting for Tatty to come back home...

...be patient...be patient...be patient...

...that was what I kept telling myself! Christmas, family, rugby and other art commissions kept me busy in the meanwhile but time just seemed to be drag....

...when was I going to see Tatty again!

And then.....WOW! yesterday a lovely big brown parcel arrived on my doorstep and out spilled the first set of Tatty Button rubber stamps! OMG such lovely little things all pristine and new, all etched smartly in grey.
They're here....actually here...finally here...in my hands...the feeling was quite bizarre! And it hit me there and then...now I'd physically got something in my hands....IT WAS FINALLY HAPPENING!

Reality has kicked in now. I have designed rubber stamp images! They have been made into actual stamps...and for crafters to buy (hopefully LOL!)...ok, so lot's of people do this....but this is something I'd never ever considered myself to be able to do....

...and now and I'm feeling a tad nervous...time that was once dragging is now speeding up and in barely two weeks time she is GOING LIVE.

OH BOY YIKES!

'The World of Tatty Button' craft products are being launched at a trade show this month...and that's it...she's out there in the big wide craftin world! I might seem all calm and confident on the outside, but really inside I'm freaking out over how it's all going to go and how she is going to be recieved...

...be patient...be patient...be patient!

Hugbinders event and raffle prizes for Macmillan

2011-01-24T11:51:00.009Z

In memory of John.....

A wonderful event is taking place in March, organized by some internet arty friends of mine, and in memory of a terrific man John Macrae, husband of Barbara 'Sparkles'.... and to help raise money for Macmillan.

Please take a look at the blog/website of 'Hugbinders' for all the details on a fabulous book workshop and raffle that is being held.

http://hugbinders.blogspot.com/

Macmillan is a cause dear to my heart. My own dad suffered from terminal cancer and during his last few months of life my mom, sister and I made the decision to care for him at home. He was bedridden, on an oxygen machine and semi comatose so it was a huge and stressful undertaking but we seriously could not have done it without the daily help from visiting Macmillan Nurses. These Nurses were a godsend and total rocks that not only gave assistance to my dad, but support and guidence to us all and often went above and beyond their duties to help us out....and do so for every cancer patient and their families across this country. To say the are angels is an understatement!

Dad is now gone but we have continued to show our gratitude to Macmillan by raising funds as and when possible, in particular by participating in the annual Big Coffee Morning and when I heard of the Hugbinders event I was also keen to play a part.

I sadly can't do the workshop but have agreed to donate a piece of artwork to the raffle.

'The Blue Balloon' is a one-off original Tatty Button pencil sketch incorporating a blue balloon to represent the Hugbinders own symbol. It will come with a mountboard frame but no actual picture hanging frame (to keep postage costs down and enable the winner to frame it to their own requirements) and is approx 16x20 inches in size. This picture is unique and will only be available as a prize by purchasing a Hugbinders raffle ticket. It will not be copied or be available at any future time for sale....and come with a signed certificate of authenticity.

This photo above doesn't really do the picture justice as the original is much darker in colour. Please also note that the above image is shown without the mountboard frame and the original will not have the copyright wording all over it :) !

(ivory mountboard frame to give overall size to fit a picture frame 20 x 16 inches!

There are many other wonderful prizes up for grabs for the art and craft enthusiast...and at just £1 a ticket you could win something to treasure, while helping a fantastic cause.

http://hugbinders.blogspot.com/

Recent artwork

2011-01-24T11:13:00.007Z

Busy busy busy working on my Tatty Button range but I have managed to paint up a few canvases. 'deadmau5' - 16inch square box canvas mixed med & matt acrylic painting. The wording has been handcut out of a thick card and adhered onto the canvas, then painted over and given a semi gloss varnish to contrast with the matt finish of the rest of the work. The white sections were originally going to painted with an illuminous paint but the recipient decided as it was being hung in his bedroom he wasn't sure he'd like to wake up in the night to see that big grin glowing out at him!

He's actually rather pleased with this (phew!) and has put in another request for a matching canvas in green...and another canvas using a different design. They're quite simple to do and fun, so going to enjoy doing more!

'Poppies' - 10x28inch (2) and 16x16inch set of three mixed med and acrylic on box canvas. The photo really doesn't do these pictures justice as the colours are much deeper, there's lots of texture in the flower heads created by using a very thick texture medium (applied with a palette knife)...and a hefty amount of antiquing and gold leaf work that has been applied. I helped the buyer hang these in her home and got to say they looked impressive in situ with nice subtle lighting and co-ordinating furnishings.

My mom was so taken with these I had a struggle to stop her pinching them LOL! She has now also asked me to paint to similar ones for her...slightly smaller. I liked doing these paintings as it was a chance to be much more free and loose in the brushwork unlike the detailed and precise pop art style I've being doing of late.

SEASONS GREETINGS

2010-12-15T22:05:00.003Z

Sorry I've not been around...been very very busy but not got much made to blog about at the moment I'm afraid. Hopefully that will all change come the new year....

....so for now I'd like to wish all Bloggers and followers

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

and a

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Ange XXX

PLEASE VOTE AND HELP BERNIE WIN

2010-10-07T11:00:00.008+01:00

PLEASE NOTE - all following images/photos used in this blog post are copyright Bernie Berlin. Permission to use them has been sought by myself and kindly granted by VP of APlaceToBark - C.Hellmuth. PLEASE DO NOT COPY/REPRODUCE THESE THESE IMAGES/PHOTOS IN ANY FORM WITHOUT ADVANCE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE APPROPRIATE PERSONS.

IMPORTANT NEWS!

Voting deadline has been extended to 27th October

PLEASE CONTINUE TO LOG IN AND RATE THE COMMERCIAL TO HELP BERNIE WIN!

The wonderful and talented artist Bernie Berlin is desperately trying to raise funds for her rescue shelter for dogs and cats. 'A Place to Bark' is a wonderful American no kill foster and adoption arrangement and deserves our attention.

http://www.aplacetobark.com/

Eloise
Bernie is currently competing in a commercial competition, run by 'Go Daddy' that has cash prizes with a top stash of $250,000 for the most popular one...and the voting is all down to the public.

Bernie wants to win this....no, she NEEDS to win this for her charity shelter.

All you have to do is follow the link, watch the commercial and rate it....preferably with a top score of 5 please...and that's it....no financial donations...no catches...just a bit of finger work and a few clicks of the button....SIMPLE!

And what's more....the event runs until the 27th October (2010) and you can vote DAILY!

Pong

Bullet
I'm on a mission to get the details of this event to as many people I know as possible.....and get them voting for Bernie. I was told of the competition via Facebook and I also share the info on Twitter....but not everyone I know, or who follows me are on these sites so I've decided to Blog it here too and hope you...all my lovely blog pals will join in and help.

Agnes

Sugarmomma
You can get a direct link to Bernie's commercial on the 'Go Daddy' site by going to her APTB blog here

http://aplacetobark.blogspot.com/

All the details are there for you to read...plus details about 'A Place to Bark'.

In these difficult financial times, charities are struggling to raise funds as the public understandably need to prioritise where their hard earned cash is spent. Many of us, me included, feel guilty that we cannot offer the cash donations we would like to, to charities....and many of us may also feel a preference to donate more closer to home.....

...WELL...here's your chance to make a difference without catches and cash donations because all that is required of you is to donate a few minutes of your time to check out the website and vote. If it's just a one off vote that's fine...if you can do more...even better....just do what you can. That's all that is asked of you.

How many minutes or hours do you spend searching the web, checking out facebook, chatting on forums...checking your mail?....if you have time to do these things, then surely a few moments of your time to vote will do no harm?

'Nough said.....JOB DONE!

Thank you says Murdock
Thank you sooooo much for taking the time to read this and I hope you all find it in your hearts to join in the voting...AND SPREAD THE WORD!

XXXANGEXXX

http://videos.godaddy.com/godaddy-commercial-contest.aspx?mediaid=1192

*PLEASE NOTE*All images/photos used in this blog post are copyright of Bernie Berlin. Permission to use the images/photos in this blog was sought by myself and kindly granted by VP of APlaceToBark - C.Hellmuth. PLEASE DO NOT COPY OR REPRODUCE THESE IMAGES/PHOTOS IN ANY MANNER WITHOUT ADVANCE WRITTEN PERMISSION BY THE APPROPRIATE PERSONS. thank you - Ange

Spiced Roasted Parsnip Soup

2010-10-05T12:44:00.010+01:00

The weather was lovely yesterday...which made a change from all the past week of grey drizzle and rain rain rain. Under blue clear skies and crisp sun I had fun checking over the veg plot and harvesting some parsnips. Got some beauties, large and perfectly formed...chuffed to bits with that...but also got a few hilarious misshapen ones that looked like mini octopuses. I think they must have hit stones or obstructions in the soil that forced them to send out multiple roots...but hey ho...they aint for show and as long as they taste great they can still be used. They may not look great and be good enough for roasting or crisps...but they are perfect for soups and mashes. Seeings as we were off for a late night game of rugby last night, and no time to sit down to eat tea, I made a parsnip soup to take instead. It's a recipe that was passed on to me some time back and has been tweaked a little over time...but the original version remains scrummily tasty and a firm hit with all that have tasted it...and it's a perfect hearty tummy warmer for cold nights on the pitch side!

I been asked so many times to write out the recipe so have decided to blog and share it with you all here...along with the variations I have tried with success and recommend. I did take photos...but have just discovered the batteries in my camera have run flat...so while they recharge, I'll post out the details and add the pictures later.

Easy to prepare and cook....ENJOY!

SPICED ROASTED PARSNIP SOUP (aka Angies misfit parsnip soup)

Feeds 4 ......or 2 very greedy hungry rugby supporters!

This healthy non-cream version freezes very well.

Prep time approx 15 mins Cook time approx 40 mins

Preheat oven to 220c / 200for fan / gas mark 7

INGREDIENTS
1 tsp CORIANDER SEEDS
1 tsp CUMIN SEEDS
1/2 tsp MUSTARD SEEDS
1/2 tsp GROUND TURMERIC
1 large ONION
2 GARLIC CLOVES
approx 675g PARSNIPS
2 plum sized TOMATOES
1.2litre good quality VEGETABLE STOCK
SALT & PEPPER to taste
1 tbsp lemon juice (optional)

Pre heat oven. Dry fry the coriander, cumin and mustard seeds in a heavy based pan until the aromas are released, then grind to a fine powder and stir in the turmeric. Set aside.

Prepare vegetables by peeling and cutting into large equal sized pieces. Quarter the tomatoes and place with the garlic cloves, onion and parsnips in a bowl. Coat evenly with the oil and a grinding of salt and pepper and tip into a large roasting tray. Roast for approx 30mins or until tender and golden, keeping an eye that they do not catch or burn (or the black bits will taint the final soup).

Spoon into a processor, liquidiser, or hand blend in a large pan with half the stock until smooth, stir in the ground spices and remaining liquid and cook on a gentle heat for another 10-15 mins. Check seasoning. Stir in the lemon juice just prior to serving with a sprinkle of additional roasted cumin seeds (optional), chunks of bread or naan.

VARIATIONS & TIPS
The original recipe calls for the whole spice seeds to be mixed into the oil and onto the vegetables prior to roasting but I found that they burnt easily and left a slight tinged taste to the soup, plus they were hard to liquidise down completely to give a smooth soup, leaving bits of gritty seeds which was unpleasant to eat. Dry frying off and grinding the spices, then adding to the liquidised soup afterwards and cooking on for a further 10 mins or so makes no difference to the taste of the soup.

If you've not got whole spice seeds to hand or the ability to dry fry and grind them from fresh...shop purchased curry powder can be used with relative success.

Take care with the seasoning if you use a vegetable stock cube as these can be high in salt.

For a real kick, add a couple of chillies. Either roast and liquidise with the vegetables, add flakes with the spice powder, or sprinkle over prior to serving.

A couple of carrots roasted with the parsnips adds a little extra special something to the taste...plus gives the soups a lovely mellow orange colour. Either include the carrots in the 675g weight of parsnips, or use as extra vegetable and increase the quantity of liquid to prevent the soup becoming too thick.

This soup is a healthy non fat version but if you'd prefer a richer creamier soup you can add some cream to the liquid veg stock measure...or just stir a spoonful in prior to serving. A more healthier option is to use natural yoghurt (and leave out the lemon juice). Take care when cooking with the creams or yoghurt so that it doesn't split.

Serving the soup sprinkled with roasted cumin seeds is optional and I actually prefer a grating of parmesan cheese.

For a truly filling dish....cook and stir in a handful of pasta before serving or chunks of boiled potatoes.

Not tried this yet, but have been assured that a couple of spoonfuls of left over soup, over a baked potato with cheese is delicious. Sounds weird but apparently it works!

Hope you try out this soup

Enjoy!

Art update

2010-10-05T12:01:00.003+01:00

It's been a while (again) so thought I'd better pop on here to say hi and give an update on what's happening on my art front.

I'm still technically out of action...still got my art room out of action...health issues, family probs, rugby and other life stuff has slowed up the final parts of my kitchen and bathroom decorating so the room is still being used for storage and still means I'm down to using the basic of the basics to create as and when I can...which sadly has been not as often as I would like. Inspiration is flooding my head at the mo so the doodles/ideas book is crammed with 'must dos' - paintings, altered art, card designs etc etc so I'm just getting a little frustrated and desperate to realise these ideas and having to just comfort myself with working on more Tatty sketches......

....Talking of Tatty....I'm taking a little trip with my precious gal in a couple of weeks and fingers crossed the journey will prove interesting and fruitful. No info for you on this just yet but hopefuly I'll have something that will interest some of you in the next coming months.

Oh...and some of you may have noticed the Tatty images have been removed from my blog and facebook. This is a temporary move for protection of the images/copyright etc. She will hopefully be back with you soon...along with other new drawings etc and things will all become clear to you. Hang tight and stay tuned!

Christmas Cards - yikes...yes...the dreaded 'C' event is being mentioned here. Well, ok so it's only October but quite a few of you organized lot I know have already made their cards! I'm fast coming to the conclusion that this just aint gonna happen for me this year...so apologies but I will be sending out shop purchased cards to friends this time...please don't be offended. I rather send those than nothing at all!

Queries for commissions for Xmas pressies have been flooding in...completely taking me by surprize. Sadly I'm having to turn down most which is really annoying but they've all been terribly understanding and I thank them from my heart for bearing with me. I have however taken on one request to do a set of three canvases...finalising details this week and they're looking to be small and reasonably quick pieces to do...so will get photos up as soon as done.

I may not be creating in the art room...but I've been creating in the garden...as far as veggies are concerned that is, and this is the time when I've really been reaping the benefits of all my efforts in the greenhouse and on the veg patch since spring. The winter root vegetables are looking superb and I harvested and made a scrummy parsnip soup last night which we took with us to a late night rugby game. It proved a hit with friends who want the recipe....so will be putting out a seperate blog post for that right now. Enjoy!

CraftiLEE...ArtiLEE

2010-09-02T14:27:00.002+01:00

Just a quick note...

CraftiLEE...ArtiLEE has had to be put into hibernation for the time being. Sorry if you have been following that Blog...I will hopefully have it back up and running some time soon.

XXX Ange XXX

Sending Suzanne love....

2010-08-25T12:33:00.003+01:00

I have a joint problem...a genetic, hereditary condition (jeeeeeze thanks dad!) that was once not really much to talk about and so kept hidden from the world....until my early twenties.

That was a time when I was enjoying life...enjoying passions such as horseriding and my art...enjoying a good job and thinking I knew where I was going in life. The joint problem was just a little fuzzy shadow in the background and I was getting on with life and doing what every 20something gal does....having a good time....

...that was until things took a turn for the worse and that fuzzy little shadow grew big...a bit too big. It reared it's ugly head and took a claim on my way of life...big time. I suddenly found myself having to very seriously re-evaluate my life and what I could/couldn't do. The ability to do most of the things I enjoyed started slipping away from me as I struggled to come to terms with what was happening. It was a scary time.

So whats wrong?.....Well, my joint problem is caused by my ligaments. I have them...they just don't work...none of em...baaaaad bad naughty ligaments! They don't support my joints like they should do and so I'm hypermobile and prone to the joints dislocating. Unfortunately things don't stop there....it's not that simple...life never is eh? Although I have HMS (Hypermobility Syndrome) it is because of a slightly more serious condition - a type of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (that's the posh name I like to use to impress people with!) and this, coupled with Scoliosis and Hip Dysplasia too...means I have chronic pain...24/7...lots of it and it's not fun!

Now, I'm not going to bore you with all the technical details of my disabilities...operations, experiences blah blah blah...you can google the conditions if you want (such as here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehlers-Danlos_syndrome ) but the main point is that the EDS/HMS is incurable and has got worse and now life just ain't the same any more. I have difficulty walking and doing a lot of normal every day to day stuff. Every day is different and can bring new challenges and problems. My condition peaks and troughs...some days I feel and look fine and want to take on the world...others leave me curled up in agony in bed, unable to get up...let alone pick up a pencil and draw....but I push on because I have to. I had to give up many of the activities I enjoyed doing in order to prevent them contradicting supportive treatments...and also to allow me time to adjust my new way of living and control the pain management. This was frustrating, painful and upsetting time and I suffered deep dark days of depression. I felt everything I loved was being taken away from me...and without the love and support of my partner and my family I really don't know how I would have got through it all and learned to come to terms with, and work, with my condition.

I have though....and through all this my art has been my crutch and without it I don't know what I'd have done. It gives me a chance to escape from my problems and the real world. I can bury my head into a sketch book, tuck myself away in my art room....and nothing else matters. It's not done to the scale I was once used to...it's often laborious and painful....and frustrating....the condition affects my art and ability to do it...but MY ART IS MY LIFE and it keeps me going...who knows what the future holds as far as my disability goes...it may get even worse...it may not....and one day I might have to live up to the realisation that art is just another thing I'll have to let go of...but for now, today, I'll hang onto this for grim death and for as long as possible and I know and appreciate that others out there feel the same as they battle their own problems.

For the first time, after a number of years of slow deterioration, my condition has reached a sort of plateau...it's not got any worse but neither has it improved...so I grab any opportunity I can to enjoy life and just enjoy doing things...such as my art. I still get the odd 'bad' days...and there are times when I think 'why me', have a bit of a rant, I grumble and moan...sometimes cry...and sometimes I have to take myself by the shoulders and remind myself that yes, it's not fair but it's not all bad...there are people out there with far worse problems....

...Suzanne Woolcott is such one case that makes my problems pale into insignificance.

Suzanne is the amazingly talented artist behind the truly gorgeous 'Gorjuss' artwork. For the last year or so she has been suffering and battling a devastating spinal condition that may put her business and artwork at risk. An amazing young artist for many years she has exhibited in many galleries here and in America and her business, run with her husband sells prints, original works and other 'Gorjuss' related items such as cards. She has of recent expanded into the papercrafting world and this has also proved a huge success. She has achieved something I have only dreamed of. Her images of young children at first glance look whimsical and innocent...and cute...but no, there is so much more going on there. I cannot really put in words what it is about the artwork that gets me...you need to read her bio and her own words...that so eloquently explain the meanings behind it all.

Her spinal condition is leaving her in huge amounts of pain...some days she cannot move as her arms and legs become numb and she suffers fatigue to a scale I couldn't ever imagine....she musters all the strength she can to complete her artwork but now her husband has spoken of his fear of hers...and Gorjuss' future. It's truely heartbreaking to hear of a fellow artist suffering so.....art clearly means so much to her that she is prepared to push on...she is a true inspiration! There's no way I can ever say that I know how she feels...or relate to her medical problems. Suzanne has something so different to me...and something so much worse...only Suzanne knows how she feels....but what I do know is what it's like to have a strong desire to create and the fear that comes with facing the prospect of losing that ability. All I can do is send her my best wishes, thoughts and love.

She doesn't realise it...but Suzanne has played a small part in my life. I happened across Suzanne and Gorjuss a while ago and was bowled over by her lovely creations and related to it all. A few years back I started playing around with ideas and sketches based on a little cartoon like girl and her friends...a character I named 'Tatty'...but she was put on the back burner while I concentrated on other life issues and she was almost forgotten. Suzanne is totally unaware of this, but as I studied her work I felt inspired to revisit my own Tatty artwork. Over these last few months I have had such fun discovering and working on her again. Tatty Button and I are now on a journey...who knows where it will end up but there are avenues opening up at present that we will travel down together and explore...and I thank Suzanne for this.

I hope you join me in sending Suzanne love....

PLEASE READ - http://www.gorjuss.co.uk/blog/?p=3450

Gorjuss homepage - www.gorjuss.co.uk

Suzanne Woolcot BIO - click on prompt on left side of homepage border.

Suzanne is currently exhibiting a 'Trust Thou Heart' collection this weekend at the american Swoon Gallery's 'Get the lead out' event. All work is available to purchase. BEST O LUCK SUZANNE! - http://www.gorjuss.co.uk/blog/?p=3456

XXX

Busy busy busy...

2010-08-23T09:20:00.003+01:00

Been a few weeks since I last posted on here....I've been pretty busy working on my Tatty Button artwork and some of these can be seen on my other blog. It's also start of the 2010/11 rugby season and with our boys now in the Championship league (rather than the Prem) with a number of games against some more local clubs it's that time of year when weekends are taken up with travelling about for rugby so less time available for art. It's been a bit of a flat unproductive year for me as far as art and craft goes...the big jobs in the kitchen and bathroom are done but there's still odd and sods of decorating to finish off and my art room is still being used as a storage room...frustrating yes...and disappointing but giving me a chance to just concentrate on Tatty and other important issues in life.

I will be back here soon...I've got an important blog to post here next!

IN BIRMINGHAM IN JULY, THE BLUES IS EVERYONE'S BUSINESS......AND ALL THAT JAZZ!

2010-07-19T09:32:00.009+01:00

(Firstly apologies for lack of photos in this post...didn't have my camera with me...doh....and although I took shots using my phone...I am having trouble uploading them)

It was Clives birthday Saturday so he decided he wanted to spend the day in the city. Now don't get worried...we weren't shopping...OH NO SIREEEE! The big sales were on and the Bullring and Selfridges was manic so we avoided that side of the city and went over 't'other side' to the canals and Brindley Place.

Birmingham is holding it's 26th International Jazz & Blues festival (16th - 25th July) with musicians set up all around the city, in bars, museums, shops you name it. It's a great time to be in Brum so if you're around, it's well worth hunting out...a guide can be picked up at most of the info kiosks with dates, times and venues. When we say international...we mean international...with acts from all around - USA, France, Hungary, you name it...and the Brits factor of course! To celebrate it's 26th year, the blues side of things is particularly impressive and is even being hooked up throughout the working week for beakfast with the good people of Georgia on Radio WRFG....... GOOD MORNING GEORGIA!

Clive was keen to see a few acts based around the canals.....French team the PAT GIRAUD TRIO at The Malt House, DIGBY FAIRWEATHER BIG FOUR at The BrassHouse, USAs CHICK WILLIS BLUES BAND and Spains NEW ORLEANS JUMP BAND...so that's where we headed off. The weather was kind to us, the flowers around the wharfs and canals were stunning and a good time was had by all. Deckchair audience, relaxing in Victoria Square...sunshine and Jazz! (photo taken 19th July)

Chick Willis Blues Band - Victoria Square. (photo taken 19th July)

New Orleans Jump Band - High Street Birmingham (photo taken 19th July)

A stop off back in the main city for cream teas at our fav place Hudson's Coffee House (lovely 1920's feel with impeccably dressed waiters serving proper loose tea in pretty china pots) then headed off home for a breather, and a freshen up before heading back to King Edwards Wharf for an evening meal at Ju Ju's.

Ju Ju's is owned and run by Welsh lass Julia and her amazing team of five in a small cafe/restaurant. Away from the real bustle of Brindley Place...it's a true hidden gem cooking up real fresh meals with love and dedication....and quality friendly service. After sampling a board of different breads with balsamic dip, Clive went all out for rib eye steak and I had the most perfectly oven baked cod. He finished off with a cheese board and I was naughty with creme brulee...served with a tangy fruit puree that balanced the rich creaminess of the brulee and a generous chunk of their famous shortbread biscuit...heaven!

A big thanks to the Ju Ju staff who finished Clives day off perfectly with their wonderful food and attention...they even surprised him with a birthday cupcake...c0mplete with candle of course.

Just quickly want to add, that while we were around Brindley Place during the day, we also popped into a few of the little galleries there. We saw some very interesting work by singer BOB DYLAN in the Castle Fine Art Gallery (ICC), and the most amazing Swedish glass exhibition at Number Nine The Gallery.

http://www.numberninethegallery.com/index_numbernine.php?page=home

The work of Bertil Vallien is a must see....

http://www.bertilvallien.nu/startsidan.html

A Sunny Sunday in Avon Dassett

2010-07-15T10:25:00.069+01:00

We picked a good day to spend out and about last Sunday...beautiful sunny warm weather. Oh how things have now changed as we have had a week of dull grey skies, cold nights and rain rain rain....and the outlook for the rest of the week is just as bad. Damp weather means back to the old achy joints...but the upside is at least I'm finally getting some water back into the butts...and I haven't had to get up so early to trapse back and forth with watering can from the kitchen tap to the veg patch.

So, back to Sunday....we took one of our rare days together coupled with the warm weather to travel out to NGS Avon Dassetts Gardens. The sleepy Warwickshire village had 8 gardens open so, after a brunch of boiled duck eggs we set off early in good time to arrive near to the opening time of 2pm.

We parked amongst many cars and coaches lining the main village lanes and headed to the first of the cottages....tiny building with very narrow and long gardens that each led to their own allotments. It was amazing how much could be crammed into the narrow spaces.

The front gardens of the Avon Cottages were nearly as long as the back ones...some so full of tress and shrubs that you could only snatch glimpses of the actual buildings.

Poppy Cottage was a detached building with gardens stretching around three sides of it and contained a variety of styles from dry grass bedding to vegetable and fruit patches and the most amazing clematis swathing an old wooden arch.Eclectic plant pots...

Secluded corners with acers, grasses, carved wood mushrooms...and a slate chip pathway weaving inbetween to represent the River Avon.A short private drive led us to the next three gardens....The Old New House, The Limes, and Avon House with beautiful areas and many garden 'rooms'Many of the gardeners in Avon Dassett feel the NGS should give them an earlier date to open as the roses are now past their best and June would be a better time to see them in full bloom....well, if this is an example of being 'passed their best'.......!!!!!!!!

Hidden tree lined areas for shade loving plants.

Formal rose gardens, precision clipped box hedges....now that's something I wouldn't want to do!Monster Hostas...where are all the slugs in Avon Dassett?...please guys tell us your secret.

Huge Fig trees heavily laden with fruit...yum....sadly not yet ripe so couldn't pinch any!A woodland path allowed you to walk around the perimeter of some gardens....peeking through the trees gave framed vistas of some of the open garden rooms and buildings....

.....and some not open to the public...this stunning place looked huge...you can only imagine the splendours it holds...oh how the other half lives!

A Lavender lined path humming with bees led you to the front of this cottage with a real working well outside its front door.

A stable block converted into holiday chalets and an artist studio held a small art exhibition with pretty watercolours and unusual mixed media canvases.

We headed off up the main village street, passed the first of its two churches, the post office and community buildings.

St Joseph Church.

Old farm buildings.

Found this delightful arched door in a wall...it's barely 2foot high...curious as to what or who used this.Aptly named 'Post Box Cottage' The actual Post Office is a cottage on the opposite side of the road...so was this the original building? The stone box is engraved 1952...surprisingly not that old.Spot the Grizzly Bear?
We Brits like our pies!

Next stop St John the Baptist Church and The Old Rectory.

Lovely building...mentioned in the doomsday book. Set into the base of the steep hill it's gardens at the rear are steeply terraced with many 'rooms' - secluded seated, shady, suntraps, some sort of bowling/croquet lawn, wooded...lots to see and some beautiful views across to the church.

A sweet little stone greyhound sits guarding the steps to the front door.

People of Avon Dassett seem to have a 'thing' about rusty old lawn rollers. We found a number of them on our visit, dotted about the garden borders. One here at the Rectory....

...another one here. This is obviously the secret to perfectly flat manicured lawns. That's not gonna happen in my garden though...even a pastry rolling pin would be too large for my tiny scrappy bit o grass!

Views from halfway up the garden....down to the patios and across to the St John the Baptist Church.

There were lots of metal sculptures around the gardens....many of an ecclesiastical nature, iron work crosses and the like. This grand life sized peacock was found perched on one of the terraced walls...such a shame that the ivy covered it's tail up...it was very long!

Very large and very grand stone urns graced the front terrace.

We took a breather on some old rusty patio chairs...Avon Dassett does rusty things rather well! This garden now done our intentions were to check out the church and it's graveyard...lots of nice old ornate grave stones to photograph. Unfortunately a big and rather aggressive wasps nest had taken up residence there...so we bypassed it with caution and exited rather swiftly through the church gates to carry on with the final leg of our journey.

The final two gardens to visit were situated up the top of the hill....up a very steep road! I wasn't so sure I was going to make it as my joints were starting to ache somewhat. But it was thankfully flanked both sides by woodland trees which made it nice and cool and we were assured by those passing us on their way down that it was definitely worth the effort. We had plenty of time to get there so decided to take it slow and give it a go.

We passes a wonderful cottage...but I didn't envy the owners one bit as far as the rear garden was concerned. So steep the hill, the building was practically nestled amongst the tree roots!

The only place flat enough to grow plants was by the front door....but in such a shady area you had to give them 10 out of 10 for effort in getting veggies to grow in the raised beds!

Finally!... we reached the top! As we turned into the driveway of Old Mill Cottage we saw our reward....refreshments! The chink of tea cups in their saucers and satisfied murmurs of visitors resting weary feet as they munched on homemade cakes was music to our ears! We walked around into the driveway to find a hotchpotch of seats, tables and shady gazebos.

Suitably refreshed and watered. We took a look around the grounds. This was a massive garden...like so many of the other houses in the village it had a number of different themed sections....each suited to the position either on the top of the hill or down the slopes. There was a very large vegetable garden...beautifully inter planted with nectar rich flowers...lavender, delphiniums etc and edged with specimen trees and stone statues. I WANT I WANT I WANT!

Not a wonky photo...this lawn really does slope like this....I certainly wouldn't want to mow it!

We found a friend for George....

(if you don't know who George is...check out my last blog posting).

Top of the hill....and area exposed to all the elements...so perfect for low maintainence dry bed cum med/desert planting. The sea hollies were in full bloom and heaving with bees and butterflys.

I've similar plants back home...and take many photos of bees on them but they're a bit behind this year. I could have spent hours snapping these fellows...but we were running out of time and still had one more garden to see.

Another aptly named place...Hill Top Farm...and it's reward for being situated so....stunning views across the Warwickshire countryside.

Brightly coloured bedding plants led you up to the front entrance....all these marigolds and not one single slug bite....how do they do it?

This was a real plantsman and veg growers garden. Three large greenhouses, a huge poly tunnel and numerous coldframes. I'd never seen so many potatoes, onions and beans grown in a non commercial garden.

Lots of plants and homemade jams and chutneys were available to buy from the farm...all profits to the NGS charities. It was close to the end of the day when we arrived so most of the produce was gone.....not that I've got any room in my own garden....

...then again maybe I could just squeeze one more in!

He was running out of plants...I was running out of steam....time to go home!

All done...ready for home we start off back down the farm driveway, down the hill, back to the car.....

....pausing to take in one last look at the beautiful Warwickshire countryside. I really enjoyed this day.

One last photo.....a totem pole....you never know what you'll encounter in an English village!

http://www.ngs.org.uk/

101 foxgloves and feeling drunk....

2010-07-06T08:49:00.015+01:00

I have been off colour for a short while....had sinusitus that decided to spread to an ear infection and gave me vertigo like I've never experienced before. Wow, did I feel like I was on a boat...seasick...or suffering one heck of a hangover...or something! I couldn't stand up, sit down, lie down...without feeling queasy and losing my balance. It was most weird, unpleasant and very painful...but I'm happy to say I'm definately on the mend now and no longer staggering about like I've sunk a bottle of gin or two! Thank you painkillers...antibiotics...what ever they were...they looked liked horse tablets but they did the trick and I'm not complaining! Yesterday was my first day of managing to walk in a straight line without collapsing in a pathetic heap so I ventured into the garden to see if I could do a bit of light tidying up. While I was out of action we experienced some vile gale type weather (still sunny and warm...no rain...just incredibly windy) and it was amazing how ragged the garden became...like the begining of autumn (hey...please...were only just having some summer at last...give us a break!). Leaves and twigs and debris everywhere and a few plants thats needed checking, straightening up and tying in....but order was quickly and easily restored.

I spent the rest of the day huddled on a stool in the greenhouse, pricking out and potting on foxglove seedlings...a lovely way to relax, think about nothing in particular, hide away from the world in warmth and quiet with just birdsong and the aroma of tomato plants to tickle the senses.

It's become a bit of a tradition for me now to grow and provide family and friends with foxgloves. They can't seem to get enough of these gorgeous graceful tall spikes of flowers that the bees adore....got to admit I'm rather crazy about them myself too. The biennial plants are raised from seed and grown on until ready to plant out and flower the following year so I have this never ending cycle of seedlings and plants in the greenhouse, cold frame and around the garden. I was dismayed to lose my original sowings of seeds earlier on in the year (don't know how or why as everything else grew fine) so this lot were a last minute attempt....and so far so good. As evening set in I had potted on over one hundred seedlings!

Got a few more to do today and then that's it for this year. We will probably lose some...that's why so many are grown....but if the conditions remain resonably good for the rest of the year, a 70% success rate will be seen as very satisfactory indeed. Last years plants have provided some amazing blooms this summer...and some surprizes in a couple of monster multiple headed plants that tower 7 foot tall. I've never seen ones like it before.

This one is in my front garden. There are two 'normal' foxgloves growing to the front left..each with just one spear and at average height. The 'monster' is the lighter green leafed plant behind with seven flower heads...and considerably taller. Not exactly an attractive photo as they have now finished flowering (I was unwell and unable to get a shot at their best) and they lost a number of flowers due to the high winds. How the stems stayed upright in the bad weather I'll never know....but I'm keen to try sowing the seeds from this one!

Today, the suns not quite out yet but we are in for another warm dry one. I've just got in from my daily morning duties of checking and watering the veg patch. Our waterbutts ran dry days ago so I've had to result in using water from the mains...not something I like to do...but we aren't generating enough used washing up water to keep the hungry runner beans happy. Are we seriously in a drought? Or is it just Birmingham?...I'm sure other areas are getting a bit of the wet stuff!...really could do with some something here as I'm struggling to keep the lettuces from bolting....then again I'd best keep my mouth shut....when it does eventualy rain we'll probably flood out. We seem to have either nothing...or all in one go. It'd be nice just to get a bit of the inbetween for once!The lighting wasn't too good but I decided to take a few shots of plants this morning...they always make me smile....it's a lovely feeling to see efforts of growing from seed finally come to fruition....EVEN IF THEY AREN'T WHAT YOU THOUGHT YOU'D GROWN! The Lupin shown above was not supposed to be that colour...but hey ho..it's quite funky so it'll stay. I've also been surprised with some pansies that came out mixed colours instead of just yellow....and I've finally admitted defeat with my colour battle with the Sweet William. I grew Sweet William a few years back from a mixed colour packet. My mom wanted all the pink shades and I was to have the white ones. I kept all the plants growing in my garden beds until they flowered so that we could seperate the colours...which we did...successfully, or so we thought...then the second year came along and I had even more pink flowers appear! We seperated them again...but the following year and the one after that proved the same. My white flowers slowly diminished as I gained more and more pink ones. I got the message loud and clear...mother nature was insisting I kept it pink. So, I left well alone this year and guess what...yep, I got more pink again....but have to say the white ones are fighting back! I guess the moral of this story is that Mother Nature always gets her way...and NOT to plant all the Sweet William out into a bed, but keep each one in seperate pots until you are absolutely sure of its colour...but never mind...my garden has never really stuck to a rigid colour scheme...in fact it's never really stuck to ANY scheme and seems to have a complete mind of it's own....but it has all been rather funny!

Battle with the Lily beetle was won again this year!

George...the HornBill oil drum sculpture guards a bare patch of soil while munching on a turtle...yes a bit macabre...but we love him!

Pink Lychnis - lovely when viewed from above, the conventional way....but I like to get my macro lens into different angles...as seen from underneath, the light just captures the delicate veining of the petals and shows off the furry seed pod...so pretty.

Good things come in small packages - the gems of my garden...tiny wild strawberries no bigger than 1cm but with a flavour so intense they beat your average supermarket fayre...and are jealously guarded by me...SLUGS BEWARE!I have upsized! OUT is the tiny aluminium and plastic coldframe...IN is this beautiful wood plant house (early birthday present!). No more back breaking reaching down to the ground and I can now harden off four times as many plants in one go. Makes for more space in the greenhouse too....more foxgloves anyone? LOL!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NEPHEW!

2010-06-25T08:00:00.004+01:00

My young nephew wanted a meerkat painting...so that's what he got!...oh and a meerkat card too....because he's CRAZY about meerkats! Officially his birthday today and we're going out for a family meal tonight but the main man is having a footie-cum-birthday bash BBQ with friends too on Sunday (for all you that aren't aware - England play Germany in WCup match).
Have a great day Josh....as well as you can at school that is...you've a much more enjoyable weekend to come!Painting - Acrylics on canvas my own design. Card - Clear acetate in an easel design with one of his favourite meerkat pictures. I've not made an easel card before and thought it'd be nice to try it out using clear acetate as the main base. The tension in the plastic makes it much more rigid than a normal card stock and helps it stand up much easier. The name is designed and welded using a Gypsy and cut out with my cricut machine. The greetings bit is green card with the wording cut out using the cricut. A black layer of paper matted underneath shows up the cut out design - I really didn't fancy cutting out all the tiny letters and sticking each one on individually so this way was much easier...oh the wonders of cricut!