Ribbit...

Happy birthday to you

Hoppy birthday to you

Ribbit birthday dear Banana Frog

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to youuuuuuu

May is Banana Frog's birthday, so get your party clothes on and hop around the lilypad for our birthday themed blog hop - next stop Audrey - no need for pressies at each lilypad but leave a comment and maybe we'll give you a pressie!!  :o)

Enjoy the rest of the lilypads!  Thanks for hopping by!!

Ready for Father's Day?....

Are you?  if not you could come by Hobbycraft's Chelmsford store on Sunday, I'll be there demo'ing card making with a 'dad' theme... I haven't demo'd at these shops before so am looking forward to it....
So if you fancy coming along to heckle (no fruit/vegetable throwing allowed!) or get some ideas I'll be there between 11:00 -15:00.  Directions/location can be found HERE

(this wasn't the post I had planned for today - that one will have to wait until tomorrow - its about a trip & plans for courses in Spain!! check back tomorrow.  Adious!)

"I'm going to throw some paint at it & see what happens"...

...was my not very scientific answer when asked what I was doing...  Sometimes its the approach you have to take - and its all part of my free-er, less planned, mistakes-are-good-for-learning curve at the moment.

So I created the above, after this photo was taken I added black drawn line around the hearts and circles, added some phrases.. but it wasn't working for me and so I cut it up - nothing wrong with that - making something better (hopefully) - I tell myself 'its mine, I can do what I want with it!' 
It might not have ended up as planned but thats not always a bad thing is it.....  (yep, it ended up as tags - & you must know by now that I do love a tag or two.. lol) (they're quick and good for reference)

At the same time I was "throwing some paint" at these I was doing the same with different types of paper I'd just bought - pads of watercolour & acrylic painting papers - good to try/play with different media & papers to get the most interesting results.. pushing your own boundaries and knowledge.

So that's my experiments of the other day - Now its your turn - Go on - go and 'throw some paint at it and see what happens!'  Its just paper and paint - not rocket science - and its FUN!!

What I did on holiday.... Part 2

So here's what else I did on holiday.. (as well as laying in the sun, reading books (4), feeding iguanas (who are fond of bananas - who knew!) and drinking cocktails)(responsibly, obviously)....  I created these with my holiday art kit (see previous post)... Tags: decorated, simply- with just sketches & colour.

Each one has a memory attached  - its part of my holday scrapbook  - I think my favourite is the skull wearing a hat - makes me smile - a nod to the Mexican 'day of the dead' and its to remind me of the day I felt like death after getting heat stroke after 3 hours looking at Mayan pyramids! 

No worries- these episodes all add to the holiday experience don't they (not that I'm recommending getting heat stroke - oh no no no.... what I would recommend when sightseeing is an umbrella to shade from the sun, lots of water, loose clothes (fully covered) and not walking around in the bloomin' mid day sun for 3 hours!! lol) It was worth it though - the Mayan pyramids at Chichen Itza - amazing structures, I wouldn't have missed visiting those - how did they build them!!! Amazing.

... and to give you an idea of their size look to the right of the pyramid - the small white rectangle with red circle at the top - thats a person with a brolly.

What I did on holiday.... Part 1

.... normally when we go on holiday I take some art 'stuff' with me (because I start to get twitchy in a 'I-can't-lay-on-this-sunlounger-for-much-longer,-I-need-to-be-doing-something' type way) and sometimes the kit doesn't get used, so this holiday I pared down what I took: 1 ink pad, set of alphabet stamps, some blank tags, neocolor watersoluble pastels, black pen, white pen, waterbrush, scissors, rubber, & a pencil.  ooh and a small light sketchbook... now that might sound like a lot but it isn't really - quite a basic kit... and more importantly - NO RULER.. nope, nothing to draw a straightline with - and I like a straight line - I like neat... but I have been embracing my messy, just-go-with-the-flow side recently- and its been very liberating.

It took 'til about day 10 of this holiday before said twitch started (thats good for me) and so I created this, inspired by Kate Crane's grid calendars. 

She uses a block of colour for each day but I wanted the grid to be coloured and the boxes to be white/pale....  for me the most important piece of this was to create a freehand grid - no ruler and not being too concerned if the boxes weren't square, level or central.... focussing on the grid rather than the blocks.

Love NeoColor water soluble pastels - vibrant colours and really easy to work with...  and oh, not only was I drawing grids without a ruler but I was sketching too!  actual sketching! 

and all this with a pencil in one hand and a cocktail* in the other! .. multi-tasking!!

* speaking of cocktails I can't recommend a 'godmother' cocktail enough - vodka & amaretto!!!!!!!!!!! How have I got to the age of 40 without having tried one of those!  A very tasty tipple.. possible too tasty.. lol

xx

Fun, Fabulous, Fabric & Whoosh!

The holiday is over, the moving boxes are unpacked (well, the ones we need), and so its back to work - which is no real hardship because I love what I do!
I have a few new things planned (more about those later in the week) - the first of which is a four week course I have planned at the Whoosh! Centre in Chelmsford called 'Fun & Fabulous Creations in Fabric'.
To give you an idea what its all about:

'Do you have a tin of buttons, a fabric collection or a box of bits 'n' bobs? Then this course is perfect for you! Get ready to design your very own handmade creation as a gift, something for your home, or a garment to be worn.

We will 'reduce, reuse and recycle' by altering existing pieces and up-cycle fabrics by using your saved bits 'n' bobs to create new items decorative and practical items. Don't worry if you don't have anything already to recycle, we'll have some exciting pieces for you to work with! Expect sewing, gluing and even some painting to inspire your creative streak! Suitable for men and women of all abilities!'

The course is about taking what you have and making something new out of it- upcycling, revamping it. 
Sounds like fun to me - I'm really looking forward to it.

First set of classes starts on Wednesday, 1 June 2011, 14:00-16:00, 4 weeks.
Second set of classes starts on Saturday, 11 June 2011, 13:30-15:30, 4 weeks.

There may still be some places left so if you're interested in coming along give them a call on 01245 256079, or go to the website: http://www.whooshcentre.com/.

Banana Frog!!

Hello!!

Yep its me! and this is a blog post - oh yes- an actual blog post with a picture and everything!! and just when you'd probably given up on me and gone to find something else on the web to look at...
Thank you for sticking with me and popping by if you've been doing that - I appreciate it - where would I be without you! (technically I'd be sitting here chatting to myself which lets face it is not really healthy, & there's only so long I can entertain myself.. &/or the cats, and they're quite easily pleased to be honest: food, tummy rub and a bit of ball throwing and they are pretty much happy!

Aaaaanyhoo enough waffling - its my day over on the pond that is Banana Frog HQ, so if you would be so kind as to form an orderly queue and hop on over to the blog to see what I made this month.

Thanks again for stopping by

Banana Frog Blog Hop

Oops!! There's been an error.  Sorry I don't have anything interesting to show you because I´m not currently here! - I'm sitting on a lilypad somewhere sunny toasting my tush and waiting for freckles to appear! - so please hop on over to Katy´s blog where she DOES have something v nice to share with you!

Enjoy the hop - make sure you leave comments - because comments can mean prizes!!

See you next month!! (on the 16th & 30th - if not before!!)

... now where did I leave that cocktail....

Craft Stamper E-Zine

This lovely e-zine is now available by going to Craft Stamper website HERE, its full of great projects from last years issues.  Nice, very nice!

Banana Frog :: Blog Hop!!!

Welcome lovely Blog Hoppers (or non-blog hoppers - those just checking in like normal - thanks either way!)

This month's theme is Birds... and I chose to work with the cute birdcage from the 'Hiya Chick' set of stamps - love these!!  and I've been a little bit efficient & multi-tasked - I designed 'bird' projects for you peeps to enjoy and my 'change of address' cards all at the same time! Ta Daaaaaa!! *pats self on back*

These cards are very simple - best to keep them that way if you have to make loads (learned that the hard way!!) & that the beauty of these stamps just a couple of images can be enough.

Right off you hop on your tour round the lilypad - next pad is Beki's where she'll have something lovely waiting for you.

Remember to leave comments on all the sites around the hop - there are prizes to won!!!!!

Have a great day!

Decisions... Decisions... Decisions...

... moving house is full of so many decisions - is it the right time/ right property, will everything complete on time, what to keep, what to throw out, when do you order the van, has the packing stuff arrived, what do we do with the cats while we move so they're not freaked out or trodden on... (or packed in a box somewhere - you know how cats love a box!!)

... and when clearing out our home getting ready to move, my approach is little & often... shoe boxes on the top of the wardrobe were dealt with the other day - 15(ish) of them and they've been up there for ages judging by the depth of dust laying on them (shameful housekeeping I know but out of sight out of mind).... aaanyhooo I came across these:

These are known as my 'honeymoon shoes' .. because I bought them to take on... yep.. you guessed it.. our honeymoon... and cute as they are (I think I was having a 1950s bride moment) the little kitten heel was not entirely suited to the cobbled streets of Ravello! lol I've barely worn them so they're in good condition - the flowers are a little crumpled but I think they started out that way!...so I'm trying to decide:

a) save them for sentimental reasons

b) sell them - bootsale or ebay

c) cut the cute little flowers off (they're sewn on, not glued - yay!) and use these on something crafty and send the shoes to recycling (or.... oooh create new 'arty' embellishment for the front)(anyone else imagining a Tim Holtz rosette on the front there??)

aaaanyhooo I'm swaying towards c) but its seems a shame to not pass them on to someone else to enjoy... but then again if I remember rightly they weren't the most comfotable shoes (but then then prettiest shoes often aren't - the price we have to pay!! lol) too hard to decide at the moment so I'll just put them back in the box (for another 5 years lol)

OK, less about my house moving decisions (which is good because if I think about it too much I start to panic slightly!)(2 weeks away - 2 freeeaakin' weeks!!!!!!!!)(the bungalow we're renting for a while doesn't have a dishwasher!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know that its not essential, but anyone who has one will acknowledge that to then NOT have one is hard!!)(& I should just shut up because there's only me & him - its not like I'm washing up for a family of 4 is it, rofl)(and breeeeaaaathe... in... out... in... out.....) aanyhoo less of me being a spoiled brat-

here is a picture of something I've been playing with, sorry can't show you the whole thing

Hope its sunny where you are, have a great day... 

Sun, Sites & Stamping anyone??

ARTIZAN

Anyone else think that the combination of sun, sites & stamping would be just a little bit fabulous??  Yep thought so!  That's why I was really pleased to be asked to run a residential art/craft class in sunny Spain!!

The course is aimed at crafter of all levels and over the 3 days there will be stamping, painting, gluing and all round crafting loveliness.... did I mention that its based in a fabulous house in Spain?? (with a pool - not that you'll have time to go in there - no, you'll be too busy crafting, or sightseeing or tasting local food dishes!) (only kidding - you'll have time for a quick dip & tan top up!)

Further details can be found on the WEBSITE under the 'creative crafts' button

I look forward to seeing you there!!

Banana Frog day!!

Tags but of a different type - over on the Banana Frog blog ... aaaah so many tags so little time....