London!

A recent day out in London.... first a hospital appointment...

... followed by a walk round Covent Garden.. nice to be a 'tourist' for the afternoon...

... this shop called 'Kikki.K was right up my street - founded by a Swede living in Australia - it now has branches in the UK stocking all things paper but with a definite Scandinavian/minimalist feel to it... heaven! I knew it was going to be lovely: look at the lovely dimensional clouds cut from card in the window...

Inside were cabinets where all the displays were created in paper (!!).. very clever..

all this paper engjneering was so clever.... the teapot above and the scissors below...

and look at this fruit and icecream!... I particularly like it all being white - it allows to 'see' the detail and work that's gone into it without being distracted by pattern and colour...

the displays were so interesting (and clever!)... such a great shop - it was all so lovely that I couldn't decide what to buy so in the end I didn't buy anything! but will definitely be going back.. (or to their online shop!)

and speaking of lovely displays - here are the windows at Oasis (who always have great window displays)

We watched the street performers (well, when I say 'we' I mean Matt - he watched while I went in shops), browsed the shops - sometimes its just nice to walk around the shops - look at trends, merchandising, colours etc - in 'Pylones' I saw these;

but, tempted as I was, I left without them but when I got home searched on internet and ordered a similar pack by Derwent! well, if you're going to buy them you might as well buy better quality ones! lol and these were available in watercolour pencils! (not exactly artist quality but will be great for travelling!!  and the packaging is also a stand!! I'm so easily pleased aren't I!) (available from Hobbycraft, Amazon and probably other local art shops...)

lots of interesting shops in the area - and its not overly tourist biased so it was a nice way to spend the afternoon.

aaanyhoo - to end the day we had dinner at The Ivy Marketgrill (before heading to see a play) - this restaurant looks as if its always been in Covent Garden but is a relatively new addition - LOVE the flooring (continuing my hexagon obsession)...

 ... and my dessert! its a lemon meringue baked alaska! totally scrumptious!

It was a lovely day (the play we saw, in case you're wondering was 'Hand to God', it was good but at the same time a bit disappointing imho)..

We have to visit London again on April 10th.. must find something to do/see for that day - any recommendations/suggestions??

Thanks for stopping by

x

Teaching and Learning

PaperArtsy recently ran a Retailer Training Day where several of their designers (including me) taught mini classes to retailer/stockists from around the country - it was a great day... lots of inspiration for everybody (we all learn something new every day!).
Kim Dellow (www.kimdellow.co.uk) demonstrated a technique that was really interesting/inspiring - a way of creating a background that I thought created a sort of 'screen printed' effect.

Kim created A4 sized pieces but it got me thinking that the same technique could be used for smaller pieces - greeting card sized pieces....

I created mini panels on 3x5in plain index cards using 4 colours - Bougainvillea, Coral, Blush and Copper...

(the dainty line of Kay Carley's stamp on the right got a bit lost against the Copper bubble wrap print so I filled in the ends with a black pen)

This is one of the panels without the bubble wrap print:

one of the panels with a die-cut motif - this is what I love about the technique - its so versatile - you can stamp on it, die-cut the created panel, journal on it or lay die-cuts over the top:

 I tried the technique on heavyweight watercolour paper - dragging the paint over the textured paper gives an interesting effect... (paint didn't drag as far or as easily over this paper as it did on the index cards)

and speaking of the index cards here they are before and after being made into cards....

A really nice technique - a big thanks to Kim for sharing it with us.

x

EDIT:  The effect is created by dragging small amounts of paint across the page using a plastic card  tool...or your OLD credit card!  (with the emphasis on OLD) or a store loyalty card... anything smooth and flat... could also use a spatula...

ALBOTAT... bringing Spring inside

I'm a big fan of tulips - I love the colours in this bunch - yes, even the yellow ones!

Yellow....

... is creeping its way into my wardrobe...

I've had this scarf for a while & I love it - can be matched with lots of colours and I thought this was the extent of yellow in my wardrobe... no block yellows - but I do have prints with yellow in.. (I found myself eyeing up a yellow cardigan in a shop a few weeks ago... turned around for a second opinion: hubby just raised his eyebrows- needless to say it went back on the rack lol)

Then I remembered these cute capri 'holiday' trousers which I bought last year but never wore because we didn't have a holiday! lol but they will be in the suitcase this year):

and I just ordered these trousers - which are 'mustard' but that fits under the 'yellow' umbrella...

... ordered online so I have no idea what they're like in real-life - will keep you posted lol  I'm thinking that with a black tshirt or a crisp white shirt they'll look cute... I'll let you know. :o)

so my conclusion is this: I'll wear yellow as long as:
a) its matched(toned down lol) with black (because, as we all know, black goes with EVERYTHING! lol)
b) its not near my face..
c) and is worn in summer...

not very scientific, and not hard'n'fast rules obviously, but for me this is the wardrobe approach to yellow   :o)

aaaah sigh - if only I could carry off this outfit (or had the occasion for it!)

or these swimsuits (gotta love 50s fashion!)

this outfit is right up my street! grey and yellow - CUTE!  I love a little cardigan!

(these images were found on pinterest.com)

Final yellow project is coming soon... (honest it is - April's colour is getting ready/impatient for its debut on the 1st!) (this year is whizzing along isn't it!)

xx

The first of many...

... cards that are required in March (wedding anniversaries x2, mother's day x2, birthdays x 4 (at least! lol))..

I taught a workshop at That's Crafty this past weekend where we created a canvas with a Bokeh inspired background... I was 'in the zone' so used the same technique to create a masterboard/background for several cards.. (created with Fresco Finish paints)

Here's part of the masterboard background...

I made 4 cards using this background including these two cards for my Mum and Mother-in-Law - love the flowers on these (from the stash - I think they are Prima).. great to have all the colours on the background to choose matching embellishments for.. (cards measure 12.5x12.5cm - this is a favourite card size for me - not too big, not too small)

Thanks for popping by

x

ACP:2 Yellow + E...

... this post is brought to you by the letter 'E'.... Here are my colour choices for this letter... fresh and springlike....

There were several options for this letter - when I look back at the list I obviously had favourites that I'd asterisked....

I found a bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs in the fridge (that were Hubby's apparently) so, purely for reasons of this project of course because E stands for Eggs,  I picked out the yellow ones - took the photo... & because they smelled soooo good I ate them (only the yellow ones, not the whole packet!)

Don't judge me - I didn't like to see them go to waste! lol (very tasty they were too - but you didn't need me to tell you that did you lol)

I didn't just use this project purely as justification for eating chocolate, I had my cunning plan (mentioned in the previous post).  I had a project in my head that featured a big butterfly but we have passed the 'B' point... hhhhmmm what to do..... ENTOMOLOGY!! study of insects - which, loosely talking, a butterfly is one of these! (in my books anyway!)

A 5x10in board canvas..painted and stencilled with Fresco Finish paints and decorated with a bespoke butterfly and die cut seed heads..

E stands for Embroidery - machine, hand and faux (simple stitches), Entomology and I was going to include embossing to give the wings texture but I was so carried away drawing and paper piecing the butterfly together that I forgot! :o(

I really enjoyed making this project - I especially like the canvas itself - so fresh - I almost wanted to keep it without the butterfly and seedheads - but then its not nearly yellow enough. :o)

Thanks for stopping by - I'm feeling a little lonely working through this project by myself - I'm thinking of a way of having you join in as and when you'd like to... I'll let you know when I've come up with a plan... I like 'a plan', almost as much as I like 'a list'!

Take care..

x

PS  There was a bit of a glitch with the link to my 'not so mellow yellow' Pinterest page but its now fixed so you can feast your eyes on the loveliness of yellow HERE

ACP:2 March's colour is...

.. YELLOW ..

Well hello March!

Come on in, you are more than welcome here so make yourself comfortable - I am going to smother you in yellow this month!!

Those of you who visit here often will know that I am not a fan of yellow...  so my aim (challenge?!) this month is to fully embrace this sunny, optimistic, versatile colour. 

While I'm thinking about all things YELLOW I'll also be considering techniques/themes beginning with E & F.  Lots of options for F but not so many for E so I've come up with a cunning plan (not so cunning that you'd pin a tail on it and call it a weasel, but cunning all the same!)... its more a cunning use of language maybe...  a way of getting around a problem.... all will become clear later in the month... (and on the list below, the beady eyed among you may have noticed lol)..

I've created a 'not so mellow YELLOW' board on Pinterest containing all things yellow - from chicks, eggs and flowers, to wellies and scooters.  You can see it HERE

Thanks for stopping by....

xx