T on Tuesday

Actually having some craftiness to share helps when you do T on Tuesday!  I joined a swap with Elizabeth and some other lovely ladies to swap tip-ins each month for 6 months.  I completed and sent off mine for this month and the lovely Chris has received them so I can share them today.  I got them out a bit early because tomorrow I go to hospital to try and sort my right wrist out and I am not sure how much use I will get out of it for a couple of weeks. Chris' theme was anything to do with the garden but no frogs....

Feathered friends with the bird cage die from Tim Holtz and a tattered floral die cut paper flower with three paper feathers which were fun to make.

Close up of the feathers which are double sided and have wire through them.

Lots of flowers and gems for Mary Mary quite contrary!

That little girl going 'oops' makes me smile...

Dandelion wishes and dragonfly kisses.  A woodn dragonfly from pink paislee and I made the dandelion flower out of plastic coloured beads.

Close up of the beads and dragonfly

March winds, April showers, brings forth May flowers.  Tim Holtz brolly man with lots of flowers.

raining little flowers on brolly man...

Winged things of the garden.... I copied the paper with butterflies on and then sat and fussy cut them all out with cuticle scissors... inked them and added them over the original printed versions to make them more dimensional.

Glossy accents to make the bodies stand out.

I bed your pardon, I didn't promise you a rose garden.... (are you singing?) My favourite bird cage die cut and the tattered florals all cut from printed papers.  Lots of washi tape and ephemera and some lace to finish it off.

Close up of the paper flowers with glossy accent dew drops on them.

So I am sitting here drinking my green smoothie for breakfast and planning to come by and visit!

WOYWW 223 and the Fairy Castle

On my desk this lovely spring morning is a fairy castle! I used Graphic 45 Once Upon A Springtime papers.

I used my Tim Holtz bird cage to make the front door and then used foam pads to add back on the offcuts to make it look like a solid door.

and it had to have a dangly... I added lots of little fairy bells, they ring when a new fairy gets her wings. I used shell offcuts for the rocky front garden, they have such pretty colours and shine, perfect for a fairy tower garden.

On the main tub I added a platform and made a tower... the Queen of the Fairies Tower.

Three fairies guard the tower and the gold key...

and the tower opens up to reveal the Fairy treasures.

The lid can be removed and inside is a fairy room...

Used my bird cage die to make the windows by cutting the top bit off.

I added a little battery operate candle so that it can be used as a night light.

and the fairies dance to the flickering lights....

This is the back of the fairy castle... a little door for the tradesmen to deliver fairy groceries.  I added a flag pole and fairy banner to the turret.

Don't forget to pop over to Julia's for the linky list of desks to visit and craftiness to see!

If you haven't entered my Blogoversary Giveaway you only have till the 15th September! 

Cards... yeah I know... I don't 'do' cards...

A card for my Mum... who trod on her cat's tail and promptly fell over in her kitchen... and is now covered in bruises and a bump on her head... she is 80 and tends not to bounce as much as she used to! 

This is a close-up... my Dad's name was Scott.... so a nice touch eh?

and I had the Tim Holtz bird cage die out and the Graphic 45 Secret Garden papers were still on my desk... so I made this one too!  Now I just need to make some envelopes for them... because I never plan the size of the card to suit envelopes that I have already!  That's a dead give away that I am not a card maker, isn't it?  

WOYWW 101

Another week disappears in a flash and its time to reveal the state of my desk.... which actually looks pretty similar to last weeks desk because I am still working on the book I am making using the Graphic45 Curtain Call papers...

I am at least on the home stretch and the fun bit of it now.  I'm not sure how other people make their albums but I do it in layers... pages, backgrounds papers, photo mats, ribbon, lace, chipboard all gets done in a sequence so all my pages tend to be in the same stage of progression... I am now at the 'add the fun bits and bling it' stage.

Now it is all bound and easier to work with...

I love the way that bird cage turned out... all glittery and golden!

I have a niece in Paris who went to drama school for about 7 years and I figure this would be a perfect way to display all the photos she has of different plays and shows she has been in.... so the call has gone out to email me the photos... hopefully she will manage to translate the email and actually send me the pics but I have learned through experience that I could be waiting a looooong time!! LOL

The papers are so beautiful it is hard to actually chop them up or cover them up so I have gone the route of using them as flaps and lift ups to reveal the photo mats and journalling spots.

Loads of space to add the pics and story...

Have used lots of pockets for tags and envelopes...

and another pocket pages with envelopes...

and I made this clapperboard to go with the movie theme...

which contains a pull out with extra pages and mats for pics and journalling.

Pop on over to Julia's for the linky list of desks to snoop about in!!

I won't be here for the next two Wednesdays as Chris is taking me on my very first cruise!!  Wooo Hooo!  We are off to New Orleans and then pick up the cruise ship which is going to take us to Costa Maya, Mexico, Belize, Roatan, Honduras, Cozumel and back to Mexico.... and we are going to swim with dolpins!! I will try and get online and blog some pics of the sunshine and stuff.... ;)

WOYWW 12th January 2011

Another week has flown by at the speed of light... my Mum is in her last few days of her 6 week visit.  As its an absolutely freezing -26 outside at the moment, I am guessing she won't be overly sad to return to France!!
On my work desk this week is my latest playing with the Tim Holtz Bird Cage die... yep, again... I am not quite tired of trying it out yet!!

This is the first attempt and it is made from glitter cardstock so my next one will be chipboard, I think the thicker medium will be more substantial as a finished item.

I did mention it is a prototype? LOL  I even made a little wooden perch for the birdie to swing on!

Along with the Bird Cage die I received for my birthday last week, Chris bought me the most beautiful Inukshuk in jade from British Columbia.  I love these things, they are so unusual.

It came in its own wooden box which I am itching to alter...

and my Inukshuk now sits on my mantelpiece.

What is an Inukshuk? 

The mysterious stone figures known as inuksuit can be found throughout the circumpolar world. Inukshuk, the singular of inuksuit, means "in the likeness of a human" in the Inuit language. They are monuments made of unworked stones that are used by the Inuit for communication and survival. The traditional meaning of the inukshuk is "Someone was here" or "You are on the right path."

A few people have asked to see the Pandora bracelet I got for Christmas and my Mum and Chris managed to almost fill up for my birthday!

It is lovely, isn't it? Chris even found me a Canadian maple leaf bead!

Another first this week was to go to an ice hockey match... it was snowing and blowing and freezing so we went and sat in a huge ice rink.... yes, full of ice!!  It was fun to watch though, and we all went for a fish and chip supper afterwards!

They were under 12's and on the team was my friend Brigette's son, Clayton.  'Our' team won 6 -1 and I put it down to my new Yetti hat and gloves which were cheering them on!

Yetti Nette and Brigette!  Did I mention it was cold???

Dress it Up

I was having a play with the dress forms and had a light bulb moment with a Tim Holtz bird cage die cut!  So this is what happened....

This is the front, with the birdcage over the dress and little brads and embroidery thread to give the illusion of a bustier.

This is it from the side.  I can so imagine the lady sweeping into a ballroom with her red and black gown.

and here is the rear view, with the two birdcages cut and joined together to give her a lovely bustle effect.

I don't know about anyone else but a couple of decades ago I would have worn this!! ;)

Tim Holtz Bird Cage Die

I was extremely spoilt for my birthday with lots of lovely things, including some more beads for my Pandora bracelet from both my Mum and Chris - it has filled up awfully fast as I only got it for Christmas!!
Went scrap shopping with Mum and Odelia and got the Tim Holtz bird cage die (thank you Odelia)!!  Well, it is gorgeous, I love it to bits and haven't stopped making little bird cages out of any spare bit of paper or chipboard since popping it out of the box!  Mum has an envelope full of various shades to take home with her to France and has been sitting in the scrap room with me making cards.
Anyway, I had to have a play with it, not with the intention of making something specific, just to make anything!

I decided to go with a prison break theme and have the wee birdie on the outside of the cage!! In real life it has a gorgeous shimmer from Glimmer Mist which my camera has entirely failed to pick up.

The maple leaf danglies are from a necklace I bought in my fav shop in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, for about 2 Riyals and I think work really well on this.  

These are some of the cards that Mum has been making and having fun with. Right, enough of this blathering... there is a bird cage on my work desk begging for my attention...