Valentine Card Project

Hi Everyone
Another cold and frosty day today. There are lots of big clouds but blue sky too ! I'm ever hopeful, so the day may turn out well.
It's Friday again, and our Die Cut day. Earlier in the week, I mentioned Valentine preparations and had planned to share some cards from last year. I've put a link in here to share what Im talking about
Check it out here
Unfortunately, someone has bought the lot. I had 7 cards in total. However, all is not lost - I do have another idea. The first photo shows some of the hearts made for last years cards. You can see how they were used in the next few photos.




These are the cards themselves.








I also made several gift tags which you can see from the leftover hearts. I made the gift box to hold general stock but its just a simple paper mâché box - painted and decorated.
My plan B is to use another idea which I've had for my own valentine make. So, here we go ....
The series of photos show the materials and tools I'm using and the order of constructing the final piece.




I did consider using hearts and pinks and reds etc. but decided on a more masculine and 'known to be liked' pattern (I used this several times and its always commented upon as being liked by my 😘)




I cut out the heart shape as a template. My 'card' is in fact a mini canvas (18x13 cm). I'm very keen on using these as cards at the moment.




I've drawn the heart shape with pencil using my template - I did trim the shape into a longer, thinner heart but think the template is useful throughout the project for placing and cutting the next shapes.




I've taken my heart die and cut out three times using the single die. My die has several styles of hearts which lend themselves to being fitted together. Each cut gave me five different hearts. If you didn't have a die you could make some mini templates and fold your paper to cut out five hearts at once, giving the same idea of repeating the heart combinations.




I spent a little time placing the hearts and settled on the positions you see. Some heart shapes will obviously fit together in different ways.




I decided to add a few words 'be mine' using the Tim Holtz Typeset alphabet. I love this font for lots of projects. I've taken some recycled brown packaging as the material for the words. If you didn't have the die you could write the message directly onto the card.




I painted the heart shape with Golden Fluid Acrylic in Titan Buff - another material I use for many projects. I like the colour and the texture this paint gives. It gives great coverage but is smooth to use.




I use the back of the mini canvas to write my message and have also added a paper string 'hanger' to display the card. I've cut out some old paper circles to glue the paper string in place.




I've also added a little paper charm. Again using the same Scribbles #4 die and threading with the paper string onto the hanging.
I like to add lots of dry paint to give an almost 'dirty' look to the finished piece, using a self mixed brown, I may have gone a bit too far on the back, so will clean it up a bit with more white dry paint.









I wasn't going to use this actual card for my Valentine. I did have some other materials for the same idea, however, I do quite like this one so may use it
( hope Richard doesn't look in on the blog until after 14/2/20013- don't want to get caught out).
Hope you liked the project. Have a great weekend.
Bye for now.

Mary's Makeover

Hi Everyone
It's been a rather cold day, today and I'm very late with my blog. Its dark outside but I can hear the wind. I guess it's still cold too !!!
News update -
I did get myself a little gift yesterday - it's a lovely green nail varnish - it's great and it cheered me up. Here it is.



My work is sort of moving on - the whole point of my gift to myself. I do have another addition for the Jan painting. I'm covering George or a bit of him ( he's the big insect) to highlight the body part. I'm almost finished the back and I'm determined to get the picture up when it's dry. This is my last 'intention' - action is now required.

I've also looked at a range of images to add to Mary Haversham ie the Feb paining. Some faces for the crowd audience and a handbag for Mary.



I like the handbag in the centre and will make a few versions to choose from. The bag will replace the flowers - Ive never liked the flowers. They will go completely. I'm also keen to add some hands - so am working on that. This will allow maybe a ring ! Much more exciting. Here is a photo of where we are at the moment.






This is a very quick sketch of a face for the audience (in the painting). I hope to do a few versions of this face at different angles (scaled to size, of course) I've chosen this style to add to the drama of the 'fashion' theme and hope it helps tell the story of the painting.

That's as far as I've got today, other than buying these little things. I will be adding these to my valentine card. I will share this after the event ( Richard occasionally reads this blog - don't want to spoil his surprise ! )



On that note, bye for today.

It's Valentine Day soon (don't panic) !

Hi Everyone
A very mixed day weather wise. It's been very sunny but showers are brewing now - quite 'breezy' too !! All the snow has gone, much relief there.

I've been distracted by the Jan. painting (can't quite let go) so have taken bits off and added extra bits. I'm not sure it's that obvious for the disinterested but the reconstruction is major to me. I did suggest hanging in the 'review display' space yesterday - this did not happen !
The first image is 'before' and the next 'after'.








More to go.

I've also decided to decorate the back with lots of ticket messages. I have a reason for this which is centred in the story message of the painting. I'm determined this will work. I will, however, get going with the Feb painting today. I must not let things get behind !!





I've been very frustrated with my work this week. I hope to find a way out of this 'dead end' somehow ? I need to focus on some inspirational projects which have been piling up. This, hopefully, will help me to make my positive move and improve work. Its all in my head, of course, but that doesn't help at the moment.

I also need to shop for food/house things but I will buy myself a treat. Not sure what ? I will know when I see it. This is stage 1 in positive thinking. Retail therapy always works for me.

It's Valentines Day coming up, I usually have a big offer of Valentine stuff in my shop but not this year ! Not sure why ? - I need a big clear out of old stock - I may find some old cards which could be worked on to make this years Valentine (for me to send). I have an idea for Die Cut Friday re Valentine. This will help direct my 'upcycling' So, if you have a last minute panic and no card - do not despair. Even if you don't have die cut machines etc. for a single card you could just use the idea.

That's it for today. Bye for now.

Mary returns !

Hi Everyone
what a lovely sunny day plus loads more snow !!! I had thought the snow had gone (wishful thinking).



It looks great from in here.

I missed my blog yesterday, events took over and I was feeling a little unwell. I'm not sure where my day went ?
There has been huge pressure re my January painting, my progress is a bit disappointing. I have made Improvements and am OK 'ish' with the outcome to date. But ....... I've decided to put the paining up on my display wall - I use this for photographing (usually) but it's also useful to have paintings up there to 'ponder'. I tend to find new solutions from the activity. Here are a few images to share.












I've taken inspiration from a book called 'Creative Thursday' - I mentioned this a few weeks ago on this blog, look back for details. The specific image I used as inspiration (from the book) was this picture.



I did a few very quick sketches of my own



and quickly had an idea of using the little figures on my 'hill' (in the Jan. paining)There is something not quite there yet but I will keep going.
In the meantime, Feb is here and my new paining for this month is this one.



Regular callers to this blog will recognise Mary Haversham as an old paining (unfinished). I've decided to use the Feb paining project to finish the piece. I do have some clear ideas about what's next but I hope I can add something new. However, I do have a new title - it's going to be 'I Can Fix It'. There is a story behind this. All will be revealed in good time.

That's about all for today. Bye for now.

Making birthday decorations

Hi Everyone
Very mild day today, our daffodils are peeping through and the sky looks promising for a bright day.


I missed my blog yesterday, too much time spent on having a good time (Im having an 'honoury' (is that a word ?) birthday along with Richard !! Yesterday, we went to the Biscuit Factory ( a great gallery in Newcastle). We go relatively often for lunch and 'a browse' and yesterday there was a new Sarah-Jane Szikora exhibition - great experience looking at these wonderful pieces. If you are not familiar with her work, look Here I love her characters, the pictures have an amusing element but are beautifully painted and the proportions are fabulous. We left feeling hugely 'uplifted'.
I bought a card and am inspired to take elements from her work to develop my own style. This is my card. Many of the characters have large bodies or long bodies with very small heads. The colours are vibrant and often feature 'food' in some way. Fabulous.



Today, is also the second week of my 'Die Cut Friday' series. This week, I'm talking about using die cuts for developing birthday things. Ive made a card and decorations for Richards birthday in this project.



The card is made from a card canvas (A5) - I colour washed it in a blue mix and stamped over using some Tim Holtz stamps. I cut out some card dies and arrow shapes, covered with papers and positioned them over a ribbon. I used the car die and the papers as a theme throughout.
























I made lots of little stamp messages/labels onto simple white printer paper and stuck them on the back of the mini canvas. I also wrote personal messages on the labels. I gave a simple white envelope the same treatment. I like the end result and it all worked out well - no plan at all when I started other than the car die.


As the photos show, I used the car die to make embellishments for the birthday cake. I 'sandwiched' three layers of papers together and glued a cocktail stick in the middle to form the cake decorations. I also created a mini sign, using a Quickcutz die and a mini label. The card car was just two layers as it was stuck to the surface of the mini canvas.

A sparkle candle was used for the singing 'Happy Birthday' event but it was less than impressive. No sparkle to speak of ! I need to complain to the sparkle candle shop. However, it gave us all a laugh - waiting for the sparkler to catch.

Another birthday decoration example is the gift tags. The boys had some simple card die cuts (in different sizes) and I cut out images from the gift wrap paper and stuck them on the labels. I trimmed and angled some of these wrap paper images. I like this to give a slightly 'edgy' feel to the tag and also allows each tag to look 'unique'. I tend to ink the edges, again I think this adds a design element to each tag. Finally, I added co ordinating embroidery thread to attach.





For my tags, I used a different die and used my gift wrap to cut the tags. I used traditional garden twine as my tag attachment.







Having opened all the birthday gifts, Ive used the tags to display as a form of 'bunting'. Kids love this idea and it's a way of enjoying the effort you put into making the tags as well as reminding the birthday person of the gifts and who gave them.






The tags will stay until the birthday 'week' (our agreed birthday time period) is over.

That's it for this week. We have another day of birthday treats (it's only day 3) - not sure exactly whats on today ? Anything will be exciting for me ! I will 'go with the flow' and enjoy whatever's on offer.

Have a great weekend. Bye for now.