FaerieWings

Mixed Media Portrait

2010-10-31T17:16:00.000Z

Karin gave me this link to a fabulous free mixed media class http://willowing.ning.com/

This is the first class and I so enjoyed doing it. Please be sure to check out the site ;-)

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T17:03:00.000Z

I created 2 Halloween canvas pieces for a Halloween challenge.....

Printing - Drypoint and Collograph

2010-09-27T18:51:00.000Z

I attended a wonderful printing workshop in Armagh over the last 2 Saturdays with Mary, Carrie and Marian. The timing was perfect as I'm starting in NCAD on Wednesday studying Drawing, Mixed Media and Print - so I got an insight into some more printing techniques.

My final images are far from perfect, but it was a great opportunity to learn the technique and get a feel for the process. Here's a couple of the pieces I made.

The Drypoint image was created by scratching into a perspex plate using various tools. This is a simple sepia toned print of my Drypoint Lighthouse.

I also ran a 'blue' version of the dry point and tried to capture the 'night' feel with the moon reflected in the water.

The collograph was great fun to make - layer different textures of wallpaper, tissue and tinfoil and cutting away the mountboard base, which is then varnished over to protect. Here is the finished collograph plate prior to printing.

This is probably the best of the prints from the collograph plate, although I would have liked to spend more time and get the definition of the lighthouse more clear - still it gives a good indication of the possibilities.

Finally, as I was in town to catch a train at 7am! I took a photo of the train station with a beautiful red morning sky ;-)

Joanne's Tag

2010-09-24T19:23:00.000Z

My final tag for our Forum Tag swap. Joanne's theme was childhood.

I was drawn to the pretty bright colours as they reminded me of Joanne's style.

Catkin - RIP

2010-09-01T06:02:00.000Z

This is a very special post in memory of our beloved Catkin who passed away last night.

He has been part of our family for 13 years and had a very special personality. He was very beautiful, and had a wonderful arrogance about him. Everyone who met him adored him. We will miss him very much.

My Hat with Loulou Bricole

2010-08-25T19:55:00.000Z

A couple of weeks ago I spent a wonderful day with milliner Linda Gruet. Not only is she an amazing designer, she's a lovely person and great fun to be with - and she's a great cook too!

It was an intensive learning experience in a relaxed atmosphere, and I brought home a hat which I am in love with. It doesn't get any better!

I love Linda's elegant style with its vintage twist, and importantly her designs are wearable. Check out her website - Loulou Bricole Couture Millinery to see some of her stunning work.

Pennys Tag

2010-08-18T21:10:00.001Z

This is the final tag for our Tag Book Challenge, and this one is made for Penny's theme - Sea.

I actually found it difficult to get this piece done. But I am pleased with the final result - I hope Pen likes it too!

Image Transfer Cards

2010-07-02T21:26:00.000Z

I made some 'bonus' project card samples from the kit I used in the Image Transfer Notebook class in Norway. I just love the Prima Papers they were so easy to work with.

Image Transfer Notebooks

2010-07-02T21:19:00.000Z

While in Norway I gave a class in which we created a notebook decorated with an image made using the image transfer technique. I made a couple of samples, one of which I used to as a mini wedding album, the other I've left as a plain notebook. I love making these little books as they are so versatile.

Birthday Wishes

2010-06-29T00:50:00.001Z

A work colleague had a special birthday recently and I thought this would be a pretty card to acknowledge her special day. I started this card in Norway and I have to thank Anne Lise for some of the wonderful embellishments she gave me during my stay - some of which I used in the finished piece here.

Belated Birthday Card

2010-06-25T21:46:00.000Z

My friend Kaz had a big birthday this year. I made this card months ago, and was so pleased with it I saved it especially for her special day.

Ringsaker

2010-06-24T10:48:00.000Z

My friend Anne Lise lives in the most beautiful area, Ringsaker, Norway on the edge of the Mjøsa lake. The rolling hills and trees are so peaceful in this place. It was lovely to spend time just sitting in this beauty.

The old Hamar Cathedral

2010-06-24T10:15:00.000Z

In Hamar where the craft event was held there is the most wondeful ruined Cathedral, which has now been enclosed in a modern glass house to protect it and also allow services to continue on the site. I took a walk there on Sunday morning, and was very lucky to arrive during a special confirmation service held by the Bishop of Oslo. There were bells ringing, and the most beautiful hymnal music and singing. It was a perfect moment.

Norway

2010-06-24T09:57:00.000Z

I was honoured to be invited to Norway last weekend to stay with a very special friend of mine, Anne Lise. I got to attend a fabulous craft event, and even present a class on image transfer techniques. The weather was mixed, but I did get some days with lovely sunshine and I took some beautiful photos of the countryside. Here's just a few.....

Thank you again Anne Lise, for such a beautiful weekend away!

City Streets

2010-06-08T23:05:00.000Z

I spent a bank holiday morning wandering around Temple Bar, Dublin. I came across some graffiti which I thought I'd share with you as it made me smile ....

Dream Box

2010-05-30T16:07:00.002Z

Karin set a fab challenge to create a piece using Sir Timmys Shabby Chic technique, and include some blossoms. I had this box sitting round which I've been wanting to do something with, so I decided I had to use it for this challenge. And so the Dream Box came into being.

Its not just a pretty box, its a very special storage box, to protect something very precious. Inside the Dream Box are some very special scrolls where you can write down your hopes, wishes and dreams to keep them safe until they come true.

Friend Canvas

2010-05-25T18:51:00.000Z

I started a few canvases at the same time and all of them have taken very different directions.For this piece I concentrated totally on gold tones, using texture to add depth. I love the warmth captured in this piece.

Belated Happy Birthday Jill

2010-05-22T10:49:00.001Z

My sister Jill had a birthday this week, here's the card I sent her. I have to say I really liked this card, I love the colour combination and the shabby look with a little bit of glitz ;-)

Canvas - Trust

2010-05-21T20:11:00.000Z

I've been working on some canvases recently. The painting and working of layers is slow, but I love seeing them come together - I'm always surprised by the final results - its never what I imagine starting out.

The image is printed on linen using digital grounds, then layered on a painted canvas, and over painted again. Various embellishments are added to the final piece.

Karin's Tag - Sea

2010-05-19T22:14:00.000Z

Karin chose her theme as Nature / Sea for our tag swap. I was blank for quite some time on this piece, but was really happy when I started to pull the sandy colours together, and incorporate a real twig and some hemp string! Real live nature - LOL!!! Hope you like it Karin.

Happy Birthday Jo

2010-05-02T11:36:00.000Z

So 3 posts in one day - has to be a record for me. But not only did I want to share Jo's birthday card with you, but also urge you to check out her blog where she has samples of her new stamp line! So big congrats Jo, on your birthday and on your big achievement - your own stamp line!!!

Pink Paislee - Cards

2010-05-02T11:31:00.000Z

I got some lovely Pink Paislee papers and wonderful prima blooms from the scrapbook store at the recent class / crop. These were perfect for some special birthday cards I was making.

April Challenge

2010-05-02T11:20:00.000Z

Karin set us the challenge to create a bird themed piece using the Tim Holtz Faux Batik Technique.

This was a great challenge to get me off my backside and try a technique that I hadn't tried before. And I had great fun playing with it. My finished piece is a little bird house, constructed from card, and decorated using the batik technique and some regular embossing. I embellished with some birds and beads on the hanging mechanism.

Birthday Card

2010-04-26T17:54:00.000Z

Here's Emmas birthday card which I'm only now getting round to blogging ;-)

Chris's Tag

2010-03-31T18:41:00.000Z

Chris has already received some fabulous tags on her childhood theme so the pressure was really on. But I think I came good for her ;-)

Jo's Tag

2010-03-31T18:39:00.000Z

I really got into the "Quotes" themes for our tag swap, so I made Jo's early as it was on this theme too ;-)

The quote reads "Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints their own nature into their pictures".

Birthday Card - Eithne

2010-03-29T22:35:00.000Z

It was my Mums birthday last week - right on top of mothers day! But I did manage to produce another card for her ;-)

Happy Birthday Mum - love you xxx

Nubian Village, Egypt

2010-03-24T20:40:00.001Z

This is another Eygyptian pic. I took this in a Nubian Village, it was one of those rare moments where you see a perfect photo opp - and actually manage to capture it!

The Nile

2010-03-22T02:00:00.000Z

There are 2 photos I took in Egypt on our Honeymoon in Dec 2008. I guess everything was so hectic at the time I never got around to blogging any photos, and have been meaning to for a while now. These are 2 of my favourites.

Mothers Day

2010-03-14T15:34:00.000Z

As I'm blessed with 2 of the most wonderful mothers anyone could ever wish for I have to special cards to share today.

In Memory

2010-03-11T00:03:00.000Z

My Grandad has been forefront to my mind this week, he was born on the 10th March 1909 and died on the 11th March 1989. Although I think of him all the time, this week is special and when I sat down to make a card tonight he was there in my head. So I did something I rarely do and made a card just for me.

The book page is from a story called "The Girl Who Loved Graveyards" - and I guess I do. I often visit my friend Sean and I laid my wedding bouquet on my Grandads grave when I married in 2008. Of course graveyards can be sad places, but for me it is somewhere to feel closer to those that I loved that are no longer with me.

The rusted heart felt right, even though its been 21 years, he's still very much in my heart, and I used my initial to signify this is my heart. The black ribbon signifies grandad and is attached with a brad bearing the letter "G".

Happy Birthday Grandad, I love you always.

Carries Tag

2010-03-08T20:06:00.000Z

Another quote theme, and I really got into the idea and made this piece for Carries Tag Book.

Its kinda hard to read the quote in the photo but it says, "It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves". (Shakespeare).

Debs Tag

2010-03-08T20:04:00.000Z

Deb chose qoutes for her Tag Book theme, here's my contribution.

Chris's Birthday Card

2010-02-24T20:59:00.000Z

My lovely forum friend Chris had a birthday recently, here's the card I made for her...

Eternal

2010-02-18T23:08:00.000Z

I finally managed to find some photos I took ages ago of stuff I wanted to blog. This card I made for Seona for her birthday at the start of January. I just love the soft ethereal look of this card ;-)

Home is Where the Heart Is

2010-02-14T13:38:00.000Z

This months Challenge was Home is Where the Heart Is. It sounded a bit 'twee' to start with, and I couldn't get my head around it. Then I remembered this House Shrine I had tucked away and decided to work with grunging it up. I made the fabric heart, and tried to keep the grunge theme going (also helped by the fact I can't sew!!!).Finally I added various embellishments to finish the piece.

Paula's Tag

2010-02-10T22:54:00.000Z

Paula chose the theme "Time and Place" for her tag. London is one of my favourite places, I spent my formative Teen / Adult years there, and it is still more home to me than anywhere else. I found a map in my stash which included this fab detail of London, so I had to incorporate it. I love how the shape of greater London fitted so well with the clock face, this piece came together so easily, it was just meant to be.

Carols Tag

2010-02-03T00:44:00.000Z

This is the tag I made for Carol in our new Tag Swap Challenge. She chose the theme phrases. I admire Carols work so much, she is a true artist so this quote jumped out at me for her tag.

Snow Challenge

2010-01-31T14:36:00.000Z

We were set a challenge to create a "SNOW" piece using pale blues, definitely appropriate for January given the amount of snow we had. I decided to use a photo I took and get out my fabrics for a play. The finished piece is mounted on a 40 x 50 cm painted canvas.

Best Friends Birthdays

2010-01-20T19:27:00.000Z

Carol and Penny both had birthdays recently, and as they are best friends I wanted to keep their cards similar ;-) Can't have them fighting over them now!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LADIES

Birthday Card

2010-01-11T23:41:00.002Z

This was made for a forum friend recently on her birthday.

Welcome 2010

2010-01-02T02:50:00.000Z

The first day of the year I woke up to find the world had turned white. It was so beautiful outside, with the sun shining and everything covered in snow, I had to go out with my camera and enjoy this amazing sight.

It was quite serene walking out with my camera in hand, trudging through soft pure snow, it was a magical start to the new year. I just hope it either improves so I can get to work on monday, or worsens so I can't ;-)

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

Vintage Christmas Cards

2009-12-17T23:50:00.000Z

Here's some of the vintage cards I made for christmas...

Christmas Cards

2009-12-15T02:32:00.000Z

I actually have been quite busy crafting over the last few months, and here's a selection of the christmas cards I made to prove it ;-)

12 Days - Candles

2009-12-11T19:48:00.000Z

I took this shot for Cheryls 12 Days course. The background is actually a mirror, there are actually only 3 candles in the shot, but it worked really well. I like the serenity of this shot.

12 Days - Spell It Out

2009-12-03T00:03:00.004Z

Another festive image - it really is beginning to feel a lot like christmas

12 Days - White Balance

2009-12-01T23:38:00.000Z

Todays exercise was testing out the different white balance options on your camera to see the difference. And it really is something worth trying out, especially for christmas shots, where most of the shots are indoors in poor light.

While I was playing I took this shot which I really liked as it has a real christmassy feel.

The picture was shot completely in the dark, using a flourescent white balance setting, a 30" exposure and using only a flourescent torch to light the subject, which I moved around slightly to light up the different elements.

Off now to finish off the wine - well couldn't let it go to waste ;-)

Festive SP!

2009-11-29T00:48:00.003Z

Cheryl Johnson is running a new Free Festive Photography course, and I was really lucky to get a spot on it ;-)

Our first task before class commences is to take a Festive Self Portrait, so as its Saturday night, I got made-up and did my hair, and stayed in!!!!

Dreams

2009-11-28T01:06:00.000Z

Here's the birthday card I made for the lovely Karin on her special day.

Believe

2009-11-21T16:48:00.003Z

We need to believe. Sometimes when things are bad and we feel down, we need to remember that they will get better. Even though I was working on this as the Autumn seemed to turn to winter, its definitely a spring piece. I kept thinking how even though things die and fade away they will always bloom again.

Altered Canvas - Pink

2009-11-07T12:53:00.003Z

I've been wanting to try out Goldens Digital Grounds for ages. So finally got around to it a few weeks ago, after breaking my printer and fixing it again, I finally got some good image transfers working and have made some altered canvases using the images and different textured bases.

This is the first one, which is sweet and simple - unfortunately the colours don't really come out so good here.

Artsy Crafty Weekend

2009-11-07T12:36:00.003Z

I was given the most amazing gift of attending the Artsy Crafty weekend by my dear friend Kaz. Sadly due to personal circumstances she wasn't able to join us, which did put a bit of a damper on the weekend for me, but I realised that I had to honour the kindness shown to me and really make the most of the weekend.

It really was a great weekend, so much thought and attention went into it by the organisers LB Crafts and Paper Artsy stamps. The venue in Newport Pagnell was perfect for the event, providing wonderful food and a cosy atmosphere.

The ladies responsible created some wonderful projects for us including a stunning clock, a fun box, and a fab embellishment. And we got right down and dirty making them all. Of course the shopping opportunity was pretty great too!

I've never really worked with metal before so learning some of the techniques was a wonderful opportunity and very inspiring, but I particularly liked playing with the textured paint techniques as this is a current passion of mine.

Thanks again to Kaz for being such a kind and special friend, to the organisers for their hard work, and sharing their knowledge, and to all the lovely ladies who made the weekend such fun.

Karins Tiles & Carries Card

2009-10-13T18:17:00.002Z

Karin was the last to receive her tiles for our forum swap. She choose vibrant blues and greens and once again I had a spare tile, which became Carries birtday card.

Carols Tiles

2009-10-08T20:52:00.001Z

These are the tiles I sent Carol in our swap. She left the theme / colour open, so I went for one of her favs - green ;-)

I actually made 4 tiles, so Carol got 3 and I still have one to play with ;-)

My Tiles

2009-10-08T20:49:00.003Z

These are the amazing set of tiles I received from our swap. I've framed them to hang on the craft room wall as soon as all the work is finished - I think they look absolutely amazing. Thanks so much everyone for your beautiful work ;-)

Emily Brady RIP

2009-10-03T15:41:00.006Z

Its been a while since I blogged, but the real world took over recently with some major events.

One of these events was the passing of my Gran Aunt, "Aunty Emily". My Grandads sister was a very big part of our lives and she died on 13th Sept aged 94. Thankfully she passed peacefully, with her family by her side.

She was a wonderful lady, very loving, the centre of her family and now sadly missed by us all.

My Grandad, Tommy passed away on the 11th March 1989. He was a very special person to me, and still 20 years since his death I miss him very much. This is my favourite picture that I have of him, it really is how I remember him.

I'm also very lucky to have this very special picture of Tommy and his sister Emily taken when they were children. I'm guessing this photo was taken around 1920.

This is Emily and Nellie, my Grandads two sisters. Nellie died in 2001 and was also a very special part of our lives.

Emily was the last of the siblings to leave us, and as such, her loss was a reminder to us of those who had gone before her. But though they are gone, they will live forever in our hearts.

Gran - KC Collage

2009-08-18T19:45:00.004Z

This is a really special piece of work for me that I want to share with you. My wonderful friend Kaz signed me up for the KC Willis Collage camp some months back, and it was the most amazing gift. I've been tentatively buying fabrics for a while, looking at some of the amazing artwork Carrie creates, but didn't know where to start myself - but the KC camp really got me moving.

The image I chose to use for my first piece is a picture of my Gran when she was young, she's 87 now and I've included a photograph of her I took a couple of years ago. Any of you that know me well will know just how special this lady is to me. She was a huge presence in my childhood, she cooked my lunch every day from school, and babysat us every Saturday night until we were old enough to go out, by then my friends and I would go round hers for a few drinks and a sing-song ~ she is better known as Gran to many people in Cork, than as Maureen or Mrs Bruton ;-)

Today she is still one of my best friends and she has always encouraged me to be who I want to be, and still praises my artwork like she did when I was a little girl, and I guess her approval is more important to me than any would be art critic. I took the finished work down to Cork to show her before I blogged it, and she loved it, and poured over all the little details.

The finished work evolved over many months, I really don't rush things ;-) But it was worth the time and effort. I love this piece, and as I am usually my own worst critic, this makes it pretty special for me. My craft studio is undergoing some serious refitting at the moment, and this piece is ear marked for pride of place once the work is complete.

Pennys Tiles

2009-08-09T19:19:00.003Z

Here's the next set of forum tiles - Pennys choice was Hot Orange with blue accents.

Suze's Tiles

2009-07-27T20:21:00.003Z

My friend Suze is ill at the moment, and while sending her our best thoughts, we thought we'd make her next on the list for the Tiles and send these along too.

I hope you like them Suze!

PWL - Human Cloning ;-)

2009-06-28T22:31:00.002Z

This weeks assignment is Human Cloning - I've had great fun already (although anyone looking out their window now knows I'm mad!). I definitely want to try some more of this.

Audrey's been a bad girl.....

My Tiles

2009-06-27T15:16:00.001Z

This time it was my turn to chose the theme colours - and my choice was cream and brown. Here are my tiles.

PWL 2 - Water Works

2009-06-16T20:12:00.006Z

This weeks assignment is to play with water close up. Its a really hard assignment, and my camera just doesn't have the macro capability for it! oh I so want a macro lens!!!

Wall Hanging

2009-06-14T21:42:00.004Z

This was part of Kaz's birthday pressie. I found the wooden 'shrine' at an art festival I went to with Carrie in Belfast a while back, and really enjoyed developing the 3D collage. I love wood, its so natural that it had to be a natural piece.

I'm really drawn to these soft natural colours, so this piece came together really easily for me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAZ!!!!!!!!!!

2009-06-13T14:29:00.001Z

A massive happy birthday to my dear friend Kaz - have a great day honey ;-)

Fabric Hanging

2009-06-12T22:58:00.006Z

I got a fabulous gift from Kaz to take part in the KC Willis Collage Camp recently. As I've been wanting to experiment more with fabric this was perfect. I decided to make a fabric hanging before I started the class as a control piece of sorts.

This is the piece I made. It was great to actually get the sewing machine out and start playing finally, and I was happy with my finished piece, which is going to a special friend of mine as a gift later in the summer.

Since this I've been working on a larger piece as a result of the KC Willis Collage Camp, and I'm amazed at the difference and excited by what I've learned in such little time. I'm loving my creative journey at the moment.

Thanks to Joanne for the heads-up I'm entering this for the Saturday's Workout "Fabric Art" theme this week ;-)

PWL - Reflections

2009-06-11T21:46:00.001Z

This weeks assignment was Reflections - having taken some lovely shots at our local canal last year, it immediately came to mind for this assignment. Thankfully the weather was on my side tonight and I got some lovely summer sun reflections ;-)

PWL2 - Light & Dark

2009-06-05T19:39:00.002Z

This weeks assignment was to play with shadows. It was a tough challenge for me, and I spent the week desparetly looking for shadows and finding none! I had an idea that I wanted to try some in a graveyard, and finally got a willing victim to come with me and be my shadow.

Loss

Ghost

Celtic Cross

PWL 2 - Leading Lines

2009-05-28T17:29:00.004Z

I'm so excited this week to have started Cheryl Johnsons new workshop - Painting With Light 2. Our assignment this week is to take images with "Leading Lines". We have to submit 3 final images. Now I just have to choose......

Wine Glass

Liberty Hall

Flags

Car

Bird

Jills Make Up Trial - Photoshoot

2009-05-25T18:54:00.006Z

This weekend I was in Cork for a make-up trial for Jills wedding. I suggested that I do a mini-shoot for the girls. It was so much fun getting all the girls posing for me. They are such beautiful girls, it made the job a rather easy one!

The Bride to be - my lovely sister Jill

Bridesmaid, Gillian

Bridesmaid, Fleur

The Mother of the Bride, Eithne

Group shots,

Cheryl Johnsons Bootcamp

2009-05-18T22:26:00.008Z

I'm just recovering from an amazing weekend at Cheryl Johnson's Photography Bootcamp. I booked this so long ago, that it felt like ages away. And when it came it went by so quickly.

I had the best weekend. Cheryl is an amazing photographer and generous teacher. Lesley, her lovely assistant, was the best fun and so patient with sharing her photoshop knowledge. The girls (& boy) attending were a hoot. And even the weather was perfect.

If you are at all interested in photography I seriously recommend you check out some of Cheryl's classes over on her site. I've just signed up for Painting With Light 2 - which promises to be another fantastic course.

For homework we have to upload out 3 best images from the course. I have 2 ready and still need to do some editing on the last one.

We had a wonderful model for the studio work. Here is my original shot straight from the camera.

Here is the version after I edited in Photoshop.

I can definitely see how I could improve on the editing, but since I've never attempted editing a person in PS before I'm pleased with the results.

My second image is this flower - out of camera....

I couldn't see how I could improve much with editing, so all I did was sharpen the image slightly for my submission piece.

But as I was having so much fun in PS I decided to see what else I could come up with and put it on a black background.

Now I've only got another 1,798 photos to share with you.......

Anns Birthday

2009-05-17T11:00:00.003Z

I got his great stamp from Carrie and have been having so much fun playing with it - its so versatile.

Belated Happy Birthday Ann

Debs Tile Challenge

2009-05-15T21:22:00.002Z

For her tile theme Deb choose Tropical Sea. I had in mind an idea using distress inks in blues and oranges, which went horribly wrong! LOL. Then I found this fun image from an old Craft Stamper and it brought to mind tropical plants.....

I hand dyed the linen on a recent play date with Carrie and have been 'dye-ing' (groan ;-) to use it.

The beading is hand stitched and there is a little padding to soften the look.

Ballerina Challenge

2009-04-28T19:31:00.004Z

Seona set us a challenge to use the following image for a swap.

Now its a bit girly for me, but I decided to have a play in photoshop, and used a picture I took at the Botanic Gardens at Easter. Its still very girly, but I was pleased with the manipulation of the image!

Another Birthday Card

2009-04-27T20:14:00.001Z

This card managed to slip through the cracks, I sent it to Emma for her birthday ages ago, and just found it on Joe's camera. I loved this card. Orange and blue seem to be my favourite colours at the moment, and this just seemed to glow.

Belated happy birthday Ems!!!!

Birthdays

2009-04-26T20:35:00.003Z

Two of my very special friends have birthdays this week. For Grace I made a necklace & earrings set and a card.

Catriona asked me to take photos of her party last weekend, as a surprise I have put together an album of all the photos and a little card. The album is too big to show, but the card is shown here.

Jo's Birthday

2009-04-23T17:42:00.002Z

I made this for Jo for her birthday (even though I didn't manage to get it posted on time!). It was a fun piece to make, and I so love this colour scheme ;-)

Joanne's Tiles

2009-04-23T17:39:00.003Z

Joanne choose Cream & Brown as her theme for our tile swap. Here are my efforts. They were really hard to photograph and they appear a lot more gold in the photos - in reality the image is clear embossing powder on cream cardstock.

Easter at the Botanic Gardens

2009-04-14T22:19:00.004Z

Tim Holtz Challenge

2009-04-01T19:58:00.000Z

We had a Tim Holtz style challenge on the forum recently and here is mine. I really enjoyed getting the inks out and making a mess!!!

Birthday Card Catch Up

2009-04-01T19:56:00.003Z

Once again I've fallen behind with my blogging.

Here's two birthday cards I made for forum friends last month.

This one for Paula

This was for Joanne - and I just had to use an inka image in her honour ;-)

DigiCollage - Emily

2009-03-17T15:31:00.002Z

I love this photo of my aunt Emily when she was a teenager, so I wanted to play around with it some, I also used images from the Creative Workshops course and some from the Graphics Fairy.

Digital Collage - Fairy Castle

2009-03-17T13:15:00.002Z

I was determined to 'play alone' with the new techniques I've learned from Gails class on Creative Workshops. I'm really pleased with my little digi collage. I love playing with PS now, and want to spend hours going through my photos to see what I can do with them now I have a new eye!

This collage is made up from images Gail gave us for the class, a few of my own photos and a star burst brush.

Tile Challenge - Chris

2009-03-16T18:21:00.002Z

We're doing a collaborative work on the forum whereby each participant choses a colour scheme and everyone makes 3 tiles in that colour to create a hanging collage piece.

Chris is first up with yellows and oranges, and here's my effort.

Brooch

2009-03-12T20:25:00.003Z

On Sunday while Carrie tried out some wire wrapping I made this little brooch....

Tote Bag

2009-03-12T20:18:00.003Z

I spent a lovely weekend in Newry with Carrie last weekend. It was so much fun, and I can't believe how productive we were. Carrie showed me how to make silk paper, which is beautiful! We went fabric shopping, experimented with procion dyes, made totes and jewelery.

This was my first real exploration into the sewing world, I've admired Carries textile work from afar and love the amazing artwork she gave me on my wedding. While I've thought about fabrics and playing with them, I never really knew where to start.

So Saturday Carrie decided we'd make some tote's. My effort is pictured here, and I can't quite believe what I made. I normally struggle to sew a button in, so to have produced a finished, usable item is momentus for me. And I think it looks really cool too!

Thank you so much Carrie - you are a wonderful and inspiring teacher.

February Challenge

2009-03-11T21:20:00.002Z

Well from that pure laziness on my part and unwillingness to cooperate on the part of my PC means I'm falling behind with a lot of stuff, including blogging some recent stuff.

Seona set us a Stash Busting Challenge in February, and sent us some bits n pieces she thought she'd never use. In actual fact it made me get quite creative. I took to altering the elements beyond all recognition and heres what I came up with....

All on a theme

2009-03-02T18:51:00.005Z

Seona set us a challenge to alter a matchbox - using only 3 colours, (1 being black)and must use stamping.

I came up with some background paper using TH Distress Inks which I used for the matchbox, and made some cards from it too.

I had fun seeing the different looks I acheived from the same starting point.

Floral Background Paper

2009-03-01T20:53:00.002Z

Just starting the Digital Collage workshop over on creative workshops, I've realised it might take me some time to finish it! Only a few minutes in and I've already got distracted playing. Anyway here's another background paper for you to play with ;-)

Drop Necklaces

2009-02-15T16:23:00.005Z

I bought a kit from BDI a few weeks back, and love the necklace I made. As I had to collect favour bags for my sister from the shop yesterday I got some more beads to make a similar one for a friend.

This is from the original kit...

While here is the one I made for Maria as a thank you....

Peeled Paint Backgrounds

2009-02-11T22:39:00.002Z

I played some more tonight turning my photos into background papers. This effect was from a photo of an old door with paint peeling off - and I just had so much fun making these!!!!

Once again feel free to use these backgrounds and let me know if you use them!

Background Papers

2009-02-09T23:29:00.003Z

I bought Photoshop a year ago and have been threatening ever since that I will actually learn how to use it. I usually got as far as opening it up and panicing before giving up.

So a few weeks ago I signed up for Gail Schmidt's - Creating Custom Digital Brushes - over on Creative Workshops. And wow did I learn a lot. I have to say Gail is a great teacher, and so helpful when I got stuck (and I did get stuck ;-) although not as much as I'd thought.

The workshop is in the form of an online video which you can stop and start and work through as you play along in photoshop.

I created these 2 background papers, which are designed as 5x7 inch, from what I learned in the work shop using my own images.

Please feel free to help yourself to these backgrounds, and if you make something please share, I'd love to see it.

Gail is running another workshop at the end of the month in Digital Collage for Photoshop which I can't wait to start now ;-) Thanks Gail!

One Lovely Blog

2009-02-03T20:19:00.004Z

I was so honoured and excited to get this award from the talented Inka - I had to share it. I have so many talented blog friends, I really don't think my own work is that good by comparison, so this award really touched me.

I'm not naming anyone as such, but you all know from my comments on your blogs that I love your friendship and inspiration and think you all have "One Lovely Blog".

Wire Wrapping

2009-02-02T20:42:00.011Z

While visiting BDI - the fabulous Bead shop in Bray at the weekend, I was lucky to get one-on-one instruction from the staff on wire wrapping stones. A forum friend of mine asked would I share what I'd learnt so here it is.

I'm new to this, so I don't suggest I can offer the best advice on technique, but I did enjoy working on this project at home, and I hope you like it. Or if you have any tips, hints or tricks to share please leave a comment ;-)

REQUIRED:

Stone
Wire: 20 guage (ga) and 24 ga
Masking tape
Tools: wire cutters, round nose pliers, flat nose pliers

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cut 2 lengths of 20 ga wire approximately 3 times the circumference of the stone

Hold the lengths side by side and wrap the 24ga wire around the centre point approximately 7 or 8 times. Start and end the wrap at the same side so the rough edges face into the stone, trim the ends and make flush with flat nose pliers

Repeat wrap to either side - keeping the original wires in line with each other

Wrap the wires around the stone with the binding wraps at central points on 3 sides
Tape the wires in place to hold

At the top bend the wires using the flat nose pliers to meet at a 90 degree angle pointing up - do not let the wires cross over each other

Using the 24 ga wire wrap the adjoining ends together

Using the flat nose pliers start to bend the wires around the stone - the tension added to the wire at this stage holds the stone in place securely, you can remove the masking tape

At the top bring 2 wires to the fore and bend 2 back out of the way

Form a loop by bending the front wires back - either freehand or using a pencil or similar to shape

Fold completely behind and wrap down with 20ga

You can snip off any excess and complete the stone at this stage or continue to embellish the stone further
I added some celtic swirls using the excess wire - I curled the ends of both 20 ga wires and interlinked them with the wire wrapping the stone to hold in place securely

I then curled the 24 ga from the top to create the final swirl

Christmas Tag

2009-02-02T20:37:00.003Z

I've been meaning to blog this since Christmas! I made this tag to go with a Secret Santa pressie. It was good fun getting dirty with gesso and acrylics and I liked the alternative christmas colours that I achieved.

Wow it's Really Snowing

2009-02-02T19:27:00.002Z

I was glad to get home tonight as the roads were treacherous driving from the train station. But what fun I had when I got home. Just outside our house lots of neighbours were building snowmen, and it was so much fun chatting, throwing snowballs and larking around.

We don't normally get quite so much snow here so it was a real thrill. Not sure how I'll get to work tomorrow -but for now I'm having lots of fun being a kid again ;-)

Birthday Cards

2009-01-21T22:55:00.003Z

Quite a few of my friends had birthdays in the last month or so, and I'm only now getting a chance to blog the cards I made them and wish them a (very) belated Happy Birthday.

I designed the background paper for this card myself for a challenge last year, and found it hard to cut into it. I'm glad I did though - I like the soft colours and the felt swirls from the Scrapbook Store are just so lovely to play with.

This is another background I created myself and although its actually quite bright for me I enjoyed experimenting and playing up the shabby chic feel.

I desparately wanted to play with this netting which came from a fabulous bunch of flowers I was given. Although pink and blue aren't colours I'd normally put together, I was so pleased with the richness of the finished piece.

Wedding Day

2009-01-18T19:10:00.004Z

Sorry its been so long Blog friends, but it has been a rather hectic couple of months.

Our wedding on 22nd December 2008 was just amazing. I had the perfect day, I couldn't stop smiling, and never wanted it to end. And now I have the most wonderful memories of the day.

We had a very relaxing christmas, and went to Egypt on honeymoon - I promise to bore you with many photos in the coming weeks.

Thanks to everyone for all your lovely thoughts, wishes and gifts - it all made for a very special time for us.

The Hen Night

2008-12-02T09:09:00.009Z

It seems the big day is looming now! I went to Cork for the weekend and had a little hen night with my family. We hired a stretch limo and took off to Kinsale for dinner. It was such a fun night!

The limo collected us from a city centre hotel - here's Jessica (my brothers girlfriend), Me and Jill (my sister) all dressed up and waiting for our car!

This is Me and Eithne (my birth Mum)

Jill and I once the limo arrived.

May (my adopted Mum) getting stuck into the champagne!

The Silly shots....

we really did break the cuffs and need rescuing!!

And finally waiting for the limo to take us home....

Thanks again all of you for a fabulous night to remember!!!!

xxx

Look at Me!

2008-11-27T22:21:00.006Z

I was lucky enough to meet and have my photo taken by Anita Mundt at the Halloween Mega Scrap. Anita is such a lovely, thoughtful person and a very talented photogrpaher.

I just had to share the amazing photos she took with you, and recommend if you ever get the opportunity try and book a shoot with her. I believe she is hoping to return to Ireland in the spring so if you're interested contact her through her site ~ http://www.anitamundt.com

Unless you're a successful model you probably don't feel completely comfortable in front of the camera, but somehow Anita manages to put you completely at ease. Just talking with her for a short while she uncovers your personality and highlights elements of your personality in her work, making you feel right at home in front of the camera.

ALL PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANITA MUNDT PHOTOGRAPHY AND DESIGN www.anitamundt.com

Anita is also responsible for the great photography challenge site - Her Space, My Space, His Space which is well worth checking out for some inspiration.

Birthday Card

2008-11-27T22:08:00.003Z

This is a slightly unusual card, but I really like it.

It started life as a mini canvas and ended up as a birthday card for the very sweet Karin. Playing with inks on the canvas was fun, and layers of colour built up quite easily. I also wanted to get a feeling of nature, dimension and texture on the piece and the elements came together well. A boring card backing just wasn't good enough, but the embossed metal sheet coloured with alcohol inks was the answer to that problem.

TFL x