Made By Melanie

iHanna's DIY Postcard Swap 2012

2012-02-21T22:25:00.001Z

Hooray! It's February which must mean it's time for iHanna's DIY Postcard Swap 2012. Happy happy!

I took part last year and ended up with a beautiful collection of handmade postcards from all over the world, one of which is in a frame on my wall. To see my 2011 postcards take a look at here and here.

So, of course, I had to sign up again this year. How could I not?! I decided to make my postcards before I registered so I didn't let ten people down if I ran out of time. I can't wait to send my cards out! (More photos in my flickr set here).

The sign up for the swap closes on 7th March. Click on iHanna's banner below to visit her site:

Secret Santa - Briana Goetzen

2012-02-19T13:32:00.001Z

I am a member of the Dirty Footprints Studio Painting Tribe (and very proudly so) and last Christmas many of us took part in a Secret Santa. I haven't heard if my gift arrived into the states (my level of confidence in Royal Mail has diminished somewhat lately) but I received mine from the US in January. Hurrah! My secret Santa was Brian Goetzen of http://courageouslycreating.blogspot.com/. I was thrilled to get a handmade journal. Would you like to take a look?

I love items made from upcycled/reused materials and I also have a thing for cardboard! I have mountains of the stuff that I've 'rescued' just in case I might ever need it. Like there'll ever be a shortage of brown cardboard boxes any time soon? Go figure. I just love cardboard.

I positively swooned when I saw this map envelope page!

Those ~~crunchy apples~~ pomegranates are just begging to have some oil pastels on them!
Thank you Briana - I love my journal!

Sketchbook Complete

2012-01-29T22:24:00.001Z

With just a few days to spare I finished my Sketchbook Project 2012 submission. Phew! I set out to learn something new for my project and now I have a better understanding of pop-up pages – and lots of new curious ideas floating around in my head.

It took me ages to learn the ‘basics’ and even though I’ve finished my sketchbook I am probably still on the basics! My favourite page is probably this one (because it took multiple cutting attempts and then ages to sew):

Having said that I really like the simplicity of this one:

I probably could have been a bit more adventurous but there’s something to be said for learning to walk before putting on a pair of roller skates.

There are a handful more images in a flickr album if you’re curious – just click on the curious!

This afternoon I spent some time photographing some items for my Etsy shoppe (to be listed shortly). And about time too I might add!

So what’s next up on the creative ‘to do’ list? Well apart from make some fun items to sell I have to start my Sketchbook Project: Limited Edition submission! My theme is ‘Thread and Surface’. Oh the possibilities!

Mixed Media and Pop-Ups

2011-12-28T22:54:00.001Z

What am I up to lately?

There’s a great international mixed media postcard swap that I’ll tell you about another day. I haven’t decided if I’m going to participate yet, I might just see if I have made 10 mixed media postcards by the sign-up deadline first. But I did find myself starting tonight without realising…

And then of course there’s The Sketchbook Project 2012! I’m very late with starting but better late than never right? I wanted to use my sketchbook this year to learn how to do something.

I’ve decided to learn how to create pop-up pages! I don’t imagine they’ll be wildly extravagant but it’ll be fun doing them.

My theme is ‘Stitches and Folds’ so, of course, I couldn’t possibly continue without some embroidery floss thrown into the mix!

More to follow…

Cubism? No. Just me in a box!

2011-11-27T14:07:00.001Z

November has been a busy month. Once again I have committed to too many things and am struggling to do them all. **Sigh** Will I ever learn?! Probably not. What with being one of those “I want to do it all!” people! What I have learnt, however, is that it’s incredibly exhausting on the mind. I have resorted to writing list upon list upon list. I have a tiny wee notebook that I attach to my diary with an elastic band. Do you write lists? I am The List Queen. On every list is the item “write blog” but somehow it never ends up being done. About five times a day I think “ooh I could write about that in one of my blogs” and sometime write it down. What I really need is a device that I can put in my bag and then type on the moment I think of something. Especially being a “must do that immediately before the fad passes” girl. A device that will publish to my blog(s) immediately. With finesse. Oh hang on, what I need is an iPad! *daydreams marginally*. But back in the real world…

So what creative adventures have I been on lately? Well I’m getting ready for my first craft fair in two weeks. Two weeks. AAH! I can’t lie to you. I’m terrified. Completely. It’s at Oldway Mansion, Paignton, on Sunday 11th December. There’s free parking, free entry and lots of stalls and refreshments. I do believe there’s going to be a raffle for a Christmas tree too.

What else? Oh yes, I almost forgot, I dropped everything on Friday to make an 80s-themed costume for a party last night. My friend, MM, came up with the suggestion of going as a Rubik’s Cube! Awesome idea! The other option I came up with was a baddie from Pac-Man (a brightly-coloured bed sheet over the head jobbie). I’m quite chuffed with my outfit and it was Made by Melanie so it justifies a photo here I imagine!

I have neglected my painting a little bit these last two weeks. Well no ‘neglected’ isn’t the right word at all. As I’ve had so much on I decided to halt for a moment so that I can give it all the attention it deserves. I aim to be picking up the paintbrushes in the next week without a doubt. I am looking forward to it.

Right enough rambling, I am possessed with the urge to make something! Cheerio!

p.s. I have to make a mask for the work’s Christmas party on the 7th December so watch this space. It’s going to be the last party with the company before many of us are made redundant so it’s going to be a shindig and a half. I have to make a mask to match the occasion!

Deep

2011-11-07T20:22:00.001Z

I mentioned in my last post that I’m on the second Fearless Painting adventure with Dirty Footprints Studio called “Deep”. I am having an amazing time. Last week we explored joy and it was an excuse to be playful in painting. I produced what is currently my favourite painting since I started painting a few months ago:

I didn’t completely finish my third painting but I wanted to move on. See if you can spot the deliberate mistake:

Did you spot it? Yup. I spelt my name wrong. Oops! Sure I could probably try and fix it but you know what? I like it the way it is! I just added the exclamation mark at the end to sort of indicate I realise it’s incorrect. Almost to laugh at it. Sometimes you’ve just got to laugh right?

October Success!

2011-11-02T18:50:00.001Z

Hallo! I'm very sorry if you've felt terribly neglected lately - I've been quite quiet on the blog-front of late because I spent October doing something INCREDIBLY EXCITING (notice the capital letters there to emphasize the excitement).

I took part in a great project called The 30 Day Challenge which was set up by awesome author of 'Screw Work Let's Play' John Williams and brilliant coach Selina Barker. I decided, with my project for the challenge, to finally get set up properly on Etsy.com and set up a Facebook page. Of course October is also OU exam month and I had to juggle the first two weeks of revising and exploring the business idea - not to mention actually start making some fun things to sell! But anyway, the 30th of October arrived swiftly and....

TA DA! I give you my Etsy shoppe! Made by Melanie:

And my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/pages/Made-By-Melanie/253754664663292):

The scariest thing, to be honest, was telling my friends and family. What if they think my "stuff" is rubbish? Well hopefully they won't sure but the fear of thinking they might was stopping me for so long. But now I'm just going full steam ahead! I'm terribly EXCITED! (Notice the capital letters crept back in there?!).

So what's the plan for this month? Well I'm taking part in the PostGrad project (follow-on to the 30 Day Challenge) and it's a smaller group with more opportunity to work with John and Selina. That's pretty exciting right? Right! Well my project is to keep the momentum going and I'm looking at doing the fun stuff this month - make make make make and make! Happy days! I'm also pledging to blog more about what I'm doing so I will share more this month!

Then of course I'm also in Deep - a Fearless Painting adventure with Dirty Footprints Studio. So there's lots of poster paint involved there. More about that later!

So all in all it's a pretty busy month for me! Next month I am attending my first craft fair as a stall holder so I've got to make sure I've got lots of lovelies to sell. It's on the afternoon of 11th December at Oldway Mansion, Paignton, if you want to come and say hello! There's a rumour that I might have a stash of mince pies hidden under the table...

Keeping a Journal

2011-10-18T07:15:00.001+01:00

I came across this lovely video about keeping a journal about your life from a blog post by Elvie Studio and wanted to share it with you.

I sort of do this in A5 diaries - I'm always sticking things in: bus tickets, newspaper articles, greetings cards, leaflets etc. I love to go back and see what I was doing on a specific day in, say, 2005. It's quite interesting.

GPP Street Team - Crusade No. 55

2011-09-18T07:43:00.001+01:00

I’ll let the images tell the story today!

A BIG step Forward

2011-09-05T23:50:00.001+01:00

The only word that says it all: LIBERATING!

I’ve been at it again…

2011-08-30T21:42:00.001+01:00

I’ve been making chutney. My chum Lorraine of Frugal Farmers had an excess of some veg so I made some chutney for her. Ta da! Look at those lovely spotty lids! Most people know me to have a bit of a ‘thing’ for jars. I used to visit Ikea when I worked over in Belfast on a twice weekly basis just to go and look at the jars. I would spend hours trying to think up reasons to buy more. Some people have a thing for smoking. Some for drinking. But me? Jars. And buttons. Don’t get me started on buttons….

Painting BIG

2011-08-13T17:51:00.002+01:00

BIG Wk 1 Shape, originally uploaded by madebymelanie.

I've thrown myself into painting this week as the BIG FEARLESS adventure started last Sunday. All I can say, apart from the fact I'm having a marvellous time, is that I. Love. Poster. Paints. FACT.

4 days to go…

2011-08-03T20:05:00.001+01:00

…until BIG begins! Hurrah! Huge paper: check. Oodles of poster paint: check. Awesome new long handled paintbrushes: check. Enthusiasm: check! I think I’m ready to go! I can’t wait! Connie, the awesome artist behind Dirty Footprints Studio, has set up a great free (yes I did say free!) workshop called Total Alignment and I urge you to go and have a gander and, better still, join in!

GPP Street Team Crusade No.53

2011-07-31T22:07:00.003+01:00

Wonderful Michelle Ward sent me some Tyvek to use after I had some issues with paper templates for GPP Street Team Crusade No.39. Thank you again Michelle! So I wanted to try No.39 again but tie it into Crusade No.53 – which was easy because colours merge rather splendidly on glass. As per usual I took far too many photographs so first off a little slide show (for No.39!) and then underneath Crusade No.53 thoughts!

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

I will confess that I found challenge No.53 quite difficult. Not in terms of looking at the colour mixes but in terms of working out how to explain them! I did try using a fancy schmancy colour palate selector online but had huge issues trying to get it to like my images so I gave up in a huff and resorted to good old drawing squares instead using Paint. Very old school I imagine.

Blue, white and red….

Lead to (clockwise from top) chilly, ice and raspberry ripple:

Plus Seaside and Passion:

Pale lemon, orange and white lead to Sunshine, I-fancy-a-lolly and Labrador:

I wanted to share something special to me

2011-07-24T21:27:00.004+01:00

I wanted to share with you something that is special to me. I signed up to Creative Journal Magic which is an eCourse by Andrea Schroeder. Yes yes I know you’re saying “What? Another eCourse?” but my answer is yes! I didn’t consciously make the decision to sign up. I just did it on autopilot – I let my instinct guide me. I’m on lessons 3/4 at the moment and I’m really pleased I did. So anyway, back to what it was that I wanted to share. I explored in my journal what it is that I fear most and with an image of a woman from a magazine (I think it was an ad for air freshener?!), glue, paint, black ink and a stamped teapot I came up with this:

I extended the little flowers on the image out onto the page and applied paint to the image to tie them together.

Quite possibly my favourite part of this page is the teapot which is very symbolic to me.

Why is this special to me maybe you’re asking. Well one of my commitments is to letting go of worrying what other people think. To affirm that commitment I have posted this page. Maybe you’ll like it, maybe you won’t, but that’s ok because I enjoyed creating the page, I learnt a lot from doing it and I explored some stuff while I was there. Stuff that will help me to be a braver artist, I hope. Yey to braveness!

I probably won’t tell you very much about my Creative Journal Magic adventure because it’s quite a private experience but if I feel compelled to share something I absolutely will!

Mahoosive ICAD Catch-Up

2011-07-22T21:28:00.001+01:00

I realised today how behind I am with sharing my ICADs for the Index-Card-A-Day project on my blog so here are the latest nine (yes nine!).

ICAD #28

ICAD #29

I came home from work to a pizza menu which was full of vouchers. I had to cut some of them up to stop me from using them….

ICAD #30

Do you ever just think “I’d really like someone to buy me flowers today”? I do. A few years ago I made a pledge to buy myself flowers once a week for the entire year. I stuck to it and it was lovely! Thinking about it I don’t know why I stopped.

ICAD #31

Today was the halfway celebration of the Index-Card-a-Day project. What a fabulous project. Take a look at the Daisy Yellow ICAD + Creative Prompts Flickr Group to see what other people have been doing.

ICAD #32

This ICAD was created from a surplus assignment printout. I had spent the day doing a mathematics assignment.

ICAD #33

ICAD #34

ICAD #35

ICAD #36

This might be one of my favourite ICADs. I really don’t think I could live without tea…..

ICAD #27

2011-07-11T23:16:00.003+01:00

ICAD #27, originally uploaded by madebymelanie.

"What's this here? Let's go explore!". I feel a bit like that right now about the future!

Cup of tea?

2011-07-07T21:40:00.002+01:00

ICAD #23, originally uploaded by madebymelanie.

Here's ICAD #23. I do love tea me...

Credit (with thanks) for the sweet teacup image goes to http://zakkalife.blogspot.com/2009/04/paper-craft-teacup-card.html

ICAD #22

2011-07-07T01:09:00.001+01:00

ICAD #22, originally uploaded by madebymelanie.

Mini Memories

2011-07-05T21:56:00.001+01:00

I’m a bit behind here so I wanted to share with you my ICADs for Thursday 30th June through to yesterday (Monday 4th July – happy belated Independence Day to my readers across the pond!).

ICAD #16 – Thursday 30th June

I was practicing for the Diva weekly challenge here. Unfortunately I didn’t get as far as actually completing the challenge but that’s cool because I learnt a new tangle!

ICAD #17 – Friday 1st July

I was having that Friday feeling with no message in particular so I grabbed some interesting papers, my favourite black pen and then did a wee bit of stitching with some gold metallic thread. You can’t really see here but the flower paper is gorgeous wrapping paper from Paperchase (oh how I bow to you Paperchase!) with lots of yummy sparkles on it. I followed this through onto the rest of the card by adding some fine glitter but you can’t see that here. Trust me, it’s there.

ICAD #18 – Saturday 2nd July

A friend and I went down to Bodmin Jail for a paranormal evening which ran from about 11pm to 7am. It was absolutely fascinating and to anyone who gets the chance I urge you to visit Bodmin Jail because it’s steeped in history!

ICAD #19 – Sunday 3rd July

I think the card says it all!

ICAD #20 – Monday 4th July

I went to a networking event tonight – my first one. I’ll tell you more about it in a few weeks but right now all you need to know is that I was feeling brave and I went for it. And I’m so glad I did!

Do you know what I love about the Index-card-a-day project? It gives me a chance to review the day I’ve just had and see if I can reflect it on one little 3”x5” piece of card in ANY way I like. I write little prompts on the back but they’re great because in the future when I look back on them they will trigger all sorts of memories! Much like a journal really. But in little bitesize pieces. I am really enjoying this project! And with that I need to away so that I can create today’s mini memory!

ICAD #15

2011-06-30T00:05:00.001+01:00

ICAD #15, originally uploaded by madebymelanie.

Just a snippet of ICAD #15. I don't particularly like what I made today I'm not going to show you it here!

We learn more from our mistakes than from our successes!

GPP Street Team – Crusade No. 39

2011-06-29T23:55:00.001+01:00

At the weekend I looked to the GPP Street Team crusades for some inspiration and came across Crusade No. 39: .

It’s the first time I’ve done this and really enjoyed the process. I did learn quite early on , though, that next time I’ll use some greaseproof paper pieces because a lot of my paper shapes got stuck to the glass and it was a nightmare trying to get them off without smudging the rest of the paint!

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

ICAD #14

2011-06-29T23:21:00.001+01:00

ICAD #14, originally uploaded by madebymelanie.

I had a dream on Monday night which involved a tangerine and cerise lacy wedding dress! I have no idea who I was getting married to though - I was more interested in the dress!

GPP Street Team – Crusade 51

2011-06-26T22:02:00.001+01:00

I’m a wee bit late but I finally got round to the GPP Street Team Crusade 51:

I decided to create a series of little cards documenting each place that I have lived. I ended up with 12 cards and I even forgot one place! That’s not bad for a 31 year old is it? 13 addresses?!

They’re gouache washes with numbers stamped on with gesso using some fun sponge stamps I got from Sainsburys ages ago. On the reverse I’ve written the rest of the address with a few snippets of information about my time at each address but I’ve not included any images of those here because it’s a bit personal.

This challenge really made me think about where I’ve lived and the wonderful (and not so wonderful) times I’ve had in each place. One address in particular, one of my Belfast addresses, fills me with so much sadness that it’s overwhelming but then others make me burst with joy. These small papers say so little to anyone else but evoke so much to me.

Recently I’ve had to make the decision if I would move again for my job - to Gloucester this time. I have said no. There is only one place I would move to and that would be for one person in particular. But alas that is but a distant dream of the past for he has moved along in his path. I must stay here and map out a future where I am. I am looking for a new address now– one with a garden would suit perfectly!

A powerful challenge indeed Michelle :)

ICAD #13

2011-06-26T21:27:00.002+01:00

ICAD #13, originally uploaded by madebymelanie.

I had a tea-drinking Sunday today and my ICAD represents that.

ICAD Catch Up

2011-06-23T22:32:00.001+01:00

For the Index-card-a-day project….

ICAD #8 – Tuesday 21st June 2011

ICAD #9 – Wednesday 22nd June 2011

ICAD #7

2011-06-20T22:37:00.002+01:00

ICAD #7, originally uploaded by madebymelanie.

I had to make an official decision today as to whether or not I would be prepared to relocate for work. I have moved around a lot and I've been back from Northern Ireland for eight months (has it really been that long?) and that's taken a lot of getting used to. I've settled home for now and I need a jolly good reason to move again. A reason that makes my heart go 'tootle tootle yippie yey" and I'm not feeling that I'm afraid. So I opted for not.

What will the future hold I wonder.

Cecil Latest

2011-06-20T22:33:00.001+01:00

He’s painted and ready for a coat of paint. Now’s the point that I end up ruining him with a bit of dodgy varnishing…

ICAD #6

2011-06-20T22:30:00.001+01:00

Here’s yesterday’s Index-Card-A-Day:

It was Father’s Day in the UK yesterday and so I was out all day with my Pa. When I got home in the evening I couldn’t really think of anything to do so in the end spot of collage did the trick.

ICAD #5

2011-06-20T00:12:00.002+01:00

ICAD #5, originally uploaded by madebymelanie.

As with most Saturdays I wrote a to do list. This is usually a ridiculously long list of things I'll never do. I don't know why I bother really! I drew all over it in the evening.

Cecil Update

2011-06-17T00:17:00.001+01:00

Cecil, originally uploaded by madebymelanie.

Well here's the latest on Cecil. He's had his first layer of lime green paint and I've market out a grid on his shell. Next up the black and white grid, a complete second coat and then some varnish of sorts.

(Sorry Cecil - no modesty for you today!)

ICAD #4

2011-06-17T00:01:00.002+01:00

ICAD #4, originally uploaded by madebymelanie.

ICAD #3

2011-06-16T23:58:00.003+01:00

ICAD #3, originally uploaded by madebymelanie.

I attempted to make hot chilli mango chutney last night. It didn't turn out quite how I expected. Not enough mango in the recipe if you ask me (although chopping the mango was a bit of an adventure - never having ever picked up a mango before let alone cook with it). If I do it again I'm going to double the amount. I woke up this morning and my flat utterly stank of vinegar. It still does. That's absolutely the last time I make chutney in the evening. It tastes ok, mind, but could do with a few weeks (months perhaps) to mellow out.

So my ICAD yesterday (which I did between stirring and overdosing on vinegar fumes) is pretty simple. Mango.

Index-Card-A-Day (ICAD)

2011-06-15T00:51:00.001+01:00

I’ve been watching other people create mini masterpieces for Daisy Yellow’s Index-Card-A-Day challenge and so wanted to join in. I banned myself from taking anything new on until after my exam yesterday so I put off buying any index cards until the day of the exam. In fact I had a bit of index-card retail therapy pre-exam along with a trip into Paperchase which, obviously, made me spend a fortune on funky gift wrap, tissue paper and little stickers (teapots with smilie faces on! I couldn’t resist!).

ICAD #1 – 13th June 2011

It seemed appropriate to rip up some revision notes and use them on my first index card – it’s almost as if I planned reusing my notes…! I also kept the green wrapper from the sweets I munched between exam questions and punched a few jigsaw pieces, to symbolise piecing together thoughts. Although they’re not joined on the card because it appears that I wrote quite a lot of incoherent babble on my script.

ICAD #2 – 14th June 2011

I made some stamps from a foam sheet a few days ago for a workshop on 21 Secrets and today I played with them on my index card.

A pile of stamps made from a foam sheet mounted on cardboard with strong PVA glue:

I really must put “sort out blog background” on my to-do list because this beige is seriously dull!!

Diva #25 - Zendala Magic

2011-06-11T23:15:00.001+01:00

Diva #25 - Zendala Magic, originally uploaded by madebymelanie.

The guest challenger this week is Geneviève Crabe from www.tangleharmony.com. Geneviève provided a great mandala template to fill in. I really enjoyed his week's challenge.

Decision Made

2011-06-04T22:24:00.001+01:00

So I’ve made a big decision that will hopefully change my life for the better. I can’t say what it is until after the 20th June but in preparation I’ve signed up to two online workshops. I have an exam on the 13th June and an assignment due on Wednesday so I need to chain myself to my study between work and sleep but I have so many thoughts and plans going around in my head it’s hard to concentrate. And of course I have to finish Cecil my friend’s tortoise. The first course I’m signed up to is the Slice of Life project, a photography workshop by Darrah Parker. I got an early bird registration (hurrah!) and am all signed up courtesy of my prize money from winning the AAT CPD Prize this year.

The course starts in July and I’m looking forward to it hugely.

The other eCourse I’ve signed up to is just too exciting!! I have been looking at Traci Bautista’s discovering Y.O.U. art marketing e-course for a few months now but the cool thing is that the day that I made my “big decision” Traci announced that she had reduced the price of the course hugely and I felt compelled to sign up immediately. I can’t immerge myself in the course until after the 13th but I’m teetering and doing little things in preparation. I can’t wait!!!

Now, of course, I’m still working through Bonita Rose’s Color Your World 2.0 class and I have my c&g on the go. Not to mention my obsession this year for making chutney. I’m surrounded by creative things and it’s really rather splendid :D

Couldn’t Sleep Journal Page

2011-06-02T23:02:00.001+01:00

The night before last I just couldn’t sleep. There’s a lot of stuff going on and I’m having trouble switching off the thinking. So at 2am I reached for my magazine journal (an old magazine that I’m slowly repurposing) and quite by coincidence there was an article about sleeplessness! Well that just asked to be painted on didn’t it?!

I don’t think it’s finished but I’ll come back to it on another sleepless night.

Diva Challenge #24 – String Theory II

2011-06-02T22:49:00.001+01:00

I had trouble sleeping a few nights ago and thought a spot of tangling would do the trick! I hopped over to see what the Diva’s challenge was this week and it’s String Theory Version II – Stripes.

Cecil Update

2011-06-02T22:34:00.001+01:00

Do meet Cecil. He’s the papier mache tortoise I’m making for a friend. Here he’s hanging around so that his legs dry in the right place. He looks like a friendly short of chap don’t you think?

Opportunity Page

2011-05-28T23:48:00.001+01:00

I had some bad news a few weeks ago about my job and in an attempt to be chipper and turn it around I created a journal page with gouache paint mixed with white acrylic. I saw Diana Trout writing upside down on a page in a scribble as a way of getting your thoughts down with very little chance that anyone else will be able to read it so I started the page with that. It’s my new favourite technique!

Slowly does it

2011-05-28T23:19:00.001+01:00

I’ve so much to do and not enough time to blog about it! So I thought I’d take a quick time out to show you something I’m working on. I’ve been asked by a friend to make him a papier mache tortoise. He’s been asking for ages and finally I said yes.

As luck would have it I have a concrete tortoise garden ornament so I wrapped him in some cling film to protect him and to stop the paper and glue sticking. I wanted to use him as a mould for the shell.

To make the head I shaped some wire, padded it out with crumpled paper and then wrapped it. After the first layer dried I then started to add extra layers to parts of the head to create some foundation shape.

I used a wire foundation for the legs too.

Today I started to assemble the tortoise. I’ve called him Cecil by the way. Here’s the point where I’m at now:

Tomorrow I’ll attach the tail and front legs…

Quick Stitch Break

2011-05-01T16:28:00.001+01:00

There were a few things I wanted to share while I’m having a quick stitch break.

Firstly I wanted to show you a page in a sketchbook that I’m reserving for work on Color your World 2.0. Ach I hate that word ‘work’ because it’s not work at all. It’s enjoyment. Well anyway, I used a page in my sketchbook as a work surface when I was stamping lines onto paper for my City and Guilds work. I then used it as a smear pad for leftover paint. I’ve ended up with something that I really rather like:

I’m going to use this page as my ‘leftovers’ page I think for old paint and the like.

What’s the second thing I wanted to share? Oh yes, I wanted to show you what I’m up to today. I’m onto my first bit of stitchery for module 2 towards the level 3 City and Guilds I’m doing (if you’re interested then please do take a nosy at my assessment blog MadeByMelanie) and I’m looking at tone by using black and white yarn on canvas with only cross stitches. I’m halfway through but have a sneak peek:

Next up is blackwork and I LOVE blackwork so I can’t wait! I suspect I will introduce some of the cool tangles I’ve been learning into my stitch work.

There was one last thing I wanted to share. The black yarn I’m using on my c&g sample above is recycled (or is it upcycled?) from an old black jumper that was no longer in service. I haven’t been able to unravel it into one long yarn so I’ve ended up with a big bundle of curly strands and on first glance it looks like a bizarre wig!

The strands are really wavy but when you split them up into parts the shape just drops right out.

Right, it’s time to make a brew and get back to ~~work~~ enjoyment!

I’m going to be brave

2011-04-30T23:40:00.001+01:00

I’m one of those people that has said for years “I can’t draw”. Well I don’t think I can draw in a particularly coherent way anyhow. This surprises some people especially work colleagues. “Yes but you’re so creative Melanie”. Well I struggle to draw something that other people would be able to say “oh yes I can see what that is” to. But that’s cool because I can do other things. I’m embracing mixed media and learning lots of great mark making techniques and the like. So drawing isn’t so much of a big deal to me anymore. So when I stumbled on a TV series on the Channel 4 on demand website I thought “oh hell I’ll have a go!”. It’s called ‘Life Class – Today’s Nude’ and the episode I clicked on was Maggi Hambling. I remembered back to my A-level art class (textiles stream) and how I actively avoided life drawing. Everyone in the class was so good at drawing and whilst I embraced every textile technique under the sun I just couldn’t handle sitting in front of a naked person trying to draw them when I was so shy of my drawing ability (or lack of). I’m afraid I skipped the classes. But now, 13 years later, I think I’ve moved forward somewhat. I mean I’ve seen a few naked chaps now so it’s not a huge (or not!) surprise when the life model might get their kit off and I’ve slowly started to accept that it doesn’t matter if no one else can see or understand what I’m drawing because it’s a note to myself anyway. So anyways back to this TV programme. The artist gave a preamble about how live models move which can be inconvenient and then she urged the viewer to grab a pen or pencil (“or whatever you have to hand”) and a scrap of paper and just get drawing. Then in walked this incredibly buff man (on the TV programme that is, if he’d walked into my flat I’m not sure drawing would have been high on my list of priorities!) who then posed in a variety of manners, staring into the camera as if looking at you. I must admit I did revert to my 18 year old self momentarily and thought “crikey he’s fit”. I recovered my composure quickly and had a go. And here’s the brave part. I’m going to show you my sketches. Yup. They’re a bit crap but I don’t care. Just as I started the second one I’m afraid I did exclaim loudly “this is too HARD!” and stopped.

But hey ho.

So here you go. My first naked person in years! Yup I need to practice. I look at it critically and see all the things wrong with it but that’s the point isn’t it? Excuse his nether regions by the way. I didn’t have a clue what to do there!!!

So then the model turned his back and stretched his arms above his head. I didn’t have a clue where to start and then decided to give up. But you can definitely make out his peachy bum! Hehe!

It wasn’t so scary having a go really. Showing the world is scary mind. But now I’ve done it there’s nothing to stop me having another go. And then another. And then another. But I think I’ll stick in my pattern comfort zone for a wee while longer first!

Doodleooo [Diva Challenge #18]

2011-04-24T22:16:00.001+01:00

I was inspired by Kara over at http://iwannabemewhenigrowup.blogspot.com/ (a recipient of one of my iHanna Postcard Swap postcards) to have a go at a challenge relating to zentangles. When I doodled in my sketchbook for Sketchbook Project 2011 I came across Zentangle®. I started a wee booklet of lots of patterns as a reference document but so far had never been brave enough to put more than one pattern together. The Weekly Challenge #18 over at I am the Diva dared me to have a go. So I did. I got into my comfort zone first with two eggs and then tried three patterns together.

Ok so I didn’t go wild and only used three patterns but it’s a start right?!

An Immediate Moment

2011-04-22T18:12:00.001+01:00

Have you ever seen something and thought “oh my God I have to make that IMMEDIATELY"!”? Well I had one of those moments this afternoon. I was browsing a really interesting blog called Domesticali and saw a great gift bow that the author had made. I thought “oh wow I wonder how she made that” and quite helpfully she’d posted a link to a tutorial on Jessica Jones’ fantastic website How About Orange. I had to stop what I was doing immediately and try this gift-bow-making-malarky because, well, I just did! I grabbed an old Open University course brochure that I was in the middle of ripping apart to paint (about that another time) and followed the instructions…. and tada!

I’m dead chuffed with my little creation! What a super way to repurpose brochures and magazines etc. I suspect all future gifts to my step-mum will now feature ‘Bella’ bows made from some of the magazines she donates to me (which I then forward on to a neighbour who then forwards them on to the local cancer ward so I’m told). Ooo how lovely would some bows be made from repurposed painted papers? Yum!

GPP Street Team Combined Crusades

2011-04-22T11:04:00.000+01:00

Another month and another GPP Street Team crusade! Actually I must confess I missed last month but this month’s crusade relates to last month so I have tackled them together.

If you’d like information on these, or any of the other crusades, click on the panels above and you’ll get taken to the GPP Street Team website.

Well the timing was pretty perfect really – it was census time in the UK last month and the large envelope that came housing the census form seemed like an excellent place to start!

So the envelope is pretty untouched and that’s deliberate… so that when you open ‘the file’ you get a contrast of bold colour!

So firstly onto Crusade No.49 – Forensic Self Portrait. I used a bundle of old envelopes and scrap papers to make individual ‘information’ sheets. I haven’t finished writing on them all yet:

1. All tied up, 2. Vital statistics, 3. Learning, 4. Wishlist, 5. Punched paper waste, 6. Dislikes, 7. Black butterflies, 8. Fragrance page, 9. Doodle-ooo

My ‘file’ smells lovely because I’ve put samples of my current favourite perfumes in little pockets on the ‘Fragrance’ info sheet!

So onto Crusade No.50 – In Case of Emergency:

Do you recognise the background paper? It’s from the scraping Crusade! I had another rummage in my stash of envelopes and came across one from the Office for National Statistics and loved the ‘On Her Majesty’s Service’ message at the top so I had to use it. Though after I gave it a colour wash I had to give it some of the black pen treatment so completely lost the original text effect! Ah well.

I made some little sheets for each person, dug out a photo and put a little bit of ramble on about them. I wrote their contact details on the back and have started to doodle on them. (Note that I’ve blanked out a few details to protect some privacy). I made some extra sheets to add more people to my bundle.

1. Edge doodle, 2. Butterfly , 3. Friends, 4. Corner doodles, 5. Corner doodles, 6. 16 April 2011, 7. Flower, 8. Doodle, 9. Edge doodle, 10. Edge doodle, 11. Edge doodle, 12. Edge doodle, 13. Edge doodle, 14. Doodle on envelope

Thanks for another two great Crusades Michelle!

Color Your World 2.0: Flower Prompt

2011-04-14T21:13:00.001+01:00

I’m going to start my post today with a cheerful image:

This is part of a page I’ve created for Bonita Rose’s e-course Color Your World 2.0. The class looked at watercolours and the prompt was flowers!

I’m a little bit behind but the course is self-paced which really suits me!

iHanna Postcard Swap Update

2011-04-07T21:40:00.000+01:00

Well I’m excited to say that my postcards for iHanna’s 2011 postcard swap are finally on their way to my swap partners! I know I’ve skirted on the edge of the deadline but phew I made it in time! After some stampage issues (firstly the Royal Mail changed their prices when I’d bought stamps, then I didn’t have enough and then when I did they wouldn’t bloomin’ stick down!) and a bit of envelope-making using a leaflet about the local area I made it just in in time. If you’re one of my international swap partners and you love stamps then you're in for a treat because I used rather a lot of them!

Crikey is there any envelope with those stamps?!

You should have seen me trying to acquire 10 leaflets from my local supermarket. There was a bit of whistling and looking around and so forth… it was worth it though I think!

I hope the recipients agree :D

Color Your World 2.0 1.2

2011-04-03T12:03:00.001+01:00

So yesterday was day two of Color Your World 2.0 and the prompt was 'finger painting’. So I set myself up with some non-toxic paint (bold children’s colours that I got from Wilkinsons a while ago) in front of CSI (a Saturday night wouldn’t be Saturday night without a bit of murder on the telly huh?) and promptly painted my jeans (by mistake). At least it wasn’t the carpet I suppose. Well anyways I painted a page in my virgin A4 sketchbook using my right index finger and it was incredibly relaxing! And much easier than using a brush actually! No jars of water, to avoid knocking over (or accidently picking up instead of my glass of red wine) no having to wash the brush out, just a rag and my finger. Marvellous!

The page is a bit ‘flat’ but I’m going to doodle on it with a black pen. I decided after I doodled in my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project 2011 that perhaps I should investigate this Zentangle craze and I started to learn the patterns (more on that another day) and so I see this page completely covered in one pattern. Perhaps.

I had lots of paint left over so I grabbed an old used greetings card and smothered it with paint (with my finger of course) and then blotted it. I got the most amazing patterns on the blot:

I added some more paint to the original card (which is a bit boring-looking so I’m not putting a photo here but you can see it on Flickr here) and took another blot using copier paper. Because the paper isn’t glossy the print wasn’t as stunning. I then got another used greetings card and painted one side (inside) and then folded it shut to produce a blot on the other side. And wowsers! The best results yet! In fact I gasped when I looked closely.

I’m starting to think more about colour every day too. How about this as a daft example. I really dislike raw tomatoes. Really really dislike them. As a child, when I was given them to eat, I used to hide them in the bin when mum’s back was turned. Until I got caught that is. I used to do it for my brother too but I seem to recall getting all the flack for that… hmm. Well anyways I really dislike raw tomato (did I say that already?!) but I am going to make apple and tomato chutney today (because it’s so delicious). What would I know about buying tomatoes? Er nothing. So I thought “really really red tomatoes must be the tastiest”. Why did I think that? I don’t know. I just assumed that it must be so. Last night I visited the supermarket and eyed up the rows and rows of tomatoes. Plum tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes. Value tomatoes. Organic tomatoes. Uber expensive tomatoes. Mid-range price tomatoes. The thing I noticed most is that the value ones were not a brilliant red. I chose my tomatoes entirely based on their colour.

And now I have finished this entry I’m off to use said tomatoes and continue my chutney adventure…

Color Your World 2.0 - Colours All Around

2011-04-01T22:43:00.002+01:00

Color Your World 2.0 - Colours All Around, originally uploaded by madebymelanie.

I'm VERY excited today! Not only does 21 Secrets start back up today (more about that tomorrow) but Color Your World 2.0 began today! This is an e-class by Bonita Rose Kempenich (http://alifeunrehearsed2.blogspot.com/) and I began the first lesson by looking at the colour around me in my home.

Beads, felt, tissue paper, a paper bag, a painting, my fridge magnets, a blanket and a handbag all said "hey take a photo of me!". So I did!

Karma smiled at me

2011-03-20T23:12:00.001Z

I am so excited to say that I have signed up for Bonita Rose’s e-course Colour Your World 2.0 which starts on the 1st April. YEY! I was thinking about doing this for a while as Bonita’s blog is always so full of yummy colour but last weekend I decided to donate the money I was going to use to ShelterBox. Well with winning the CPD prize this week (I’m still grinning about it by the way) I now have a little cash to spend so have signed up. Woo! Karma smiled at me this week :)

Belfast Book

2011-03-20T20:42:00.001Z

So as already mentioned I was a bit bored yesterday and I pondered my upcoming trip to Belfast (I go over on Thursday) and wondered what craft supplies I would take with me and if I needed any at all. Quite naturally the answer was “er yes of course you need supplies!” and the truth is I rarely go anywhere without my little pot of PVA glue. So I ummed and ahhed and took inspiration from iHanna and her post ‘Altered book tutorial’ and decided that I immediately had to grab an old hardback book and make it into my ‘Belfast Book’.

I had a rummage on my shelves and came across a book that I had tried to read a few times but just couldn’t get in to.

This was an ex library book and had been abused slightly already.

I hadn’t realised but it was actually orange!

I can imagine it with shocking colours splattered on it – yellow, lime green, shocking pink. Yum! I quite like the spine so I will probably end up leaving it alone.

I proceeded to follow Hanna’s advice on removing pages and slimmed down the book accordingly.

But then it struck me. Well I’m only going away for four days. It’s not exactly a practical book to carry on my travels is it? So I put the book to one side, to be continued as it were….

I then turned to a more usefully sized book – a Ladybird book of Snow White. That’s a perfect little size to carry in my hand luggage, it’s not got too many pages to fill either. It’ll be a perfect Belfast Book! But I had to alter it rather first and make it in to a blank canvas ready for my trip. I covered the outside with brown paper, gessoed some pages, cut some pages down to an inch along the spine and then attached other papers (yellow copier paper left over from something else and envelopes which had originated in Northern Ireland). Earlier in the day I had pilfered some clear plastic ‘wallets’ from the inside of an old diary and I attached them to the inside front cover. They should be a nice home for bits ‘n’ bobs when I’m on the move.

Nice blank front ready to be played on!:

I couldn’t resist the spotty first page with the “this ladybird book belongs to:” box. On the inside front page I have attached plastic wallets for my bits and pieces:

I’m going to pop this in my bag now and not touch it until Thursday now! I can’t wait to fill it!

And now for something random

2011-03-20T19:11:00.001Z

I was a bit bored yesterday. So I found myself making a felt rosette brooch and a cute little egg cup pin cushion (I’ve needed a pin cushion for ages but have been too lazy to do anything about it until yesterday).

The egg cup itself is just so cute. I’ve developed a thing for egg cups…

Off to London Town

2011-03-20T18:41:00.001Z

On Thursday I took a trip to London. I had an interview to attend there and quite handily the location was about five minutes walk from the Museum of London. I got to London at about noon (the 3 hour train ride was pretty uneventful) and then had several hours to fill so took a stroll around the museum. During my interview I had to give a presentation – eek! I haven’t done that since university so I was terribly nervous. At various points in the museum I sat down and had a little silent practice. I imagine security, watching on camera, thought I was a tad odd – ambling around the building with no real direction and stopping at the occasional seat to whip out a set of yellow papers and then pretending to present. Hm. I’d certainly have thought I was odd too. There’s a mock Victorian street in the museum and I found the pub… I had a practice in their too!! I came across a really interesting display about the Suffragettes and the WSPU and for some reason I felt more confident. I thought “these women stood up for my benefit, without them I wouldn’t be attending this interview, so I can give a 6 minute presentation without falling apart dammit!”. I can’t explain it really. I just felt stronger – the power of positive thinking I guess. So off I went, I gave the presentation and interview my best shot and then headed back to the museum for another hour. Before I caught the train home I headed into a bar in the train station for some food and watched a very determined pigeon trying to get in the kitchen. He kept getting shooed away but five minutes later he would reappear and lurk with intention near the kitchen door.

Of course I’d kept all my receipts, tickets, maps and so forth and thought back to the last GPP Street Team crusade (Crusade No.48 – Been There, Done That) and decided it was a perfect way to log the day.

One thing I have to state is that the tea on the train was rather splendid which has surprised everyone.

The interview was for a professional development prize for the AAT (the Association of Accounting Technicians of which I’m a member). I had been shortlisted and on Friday I got the good news that I am a joint winner! Hurray! I’m very proud of myself indeed! I win some money to spend on whatever I choose(most of it will go towards my Open University fees next year but I’m saving a little to spend on creative stuff) and here’s the best bit – I have £500 to spend on learning activities! For someone like me who just lusts for learning (oo-er) I’m thrilled! I feel very privileged to have this opportunity and I’m going to use it to push my creative business skills forward. Hurrah!

iHanna’s DIY Postcard Swap 2011

2011-03-15T23:42:00.000Z

I’m so excited! Last week iHanna announced that she is once again organising a postcard swap this year and I’ve signed up! Woo! I was worried, with things being so hectic lately, that I would let people down so I only signed up when I had completed my postcards! And hurrah I finished on Sunday. YEY! The deadline to register is the 18th March 2011 so click on the banner below if you’d like to find out more!

I used some papers that I had previously painted for a GPP Street Team crusade (the one about scraping) – they’ve been sitting looking at me for ages and I looked back at them saying “you’re too nice to use on anything boring”. Then when iHanna announced her postcard swap I knew just the chaps for the job! So I selected 6 papers and made up 11 cards (there were 12 but the 12th was dull, and actually so was number 11 so I didn’t include that one). I decided to stitch onto the papers and raided my ex-cross-stitch-floss collection from years gone by. I have all the colours of the rainbow and hundreds in between from old kits which can prove pretty darn useful (maybe I should take a photo sometime – my ‘stuff’ mountains are ever-growing!). Enough of the talking, I’ll show you some pics!

So I began by selecting my papers and then pricking holes in appropriate places:

My desk did get a bit untidy…. notice the sherry glass (very Miss Marple) and the chocolate truffle (bottom-right!) – well it was Saturday:

So onto my finished postcards – if you’d like to see close-ups then please click on the image and it will take you to flickr where they live :)

I can’t wait to post them! A big thank you to iHanna for organising the swap!

What’ve I been doing?

2011-03-13T22:06:00.001Z

Well my last creative update was nearly four weeks ago! Shocking! I’ve been up to quite a lot so here’s a whistle-stop(ish) tour.

I went to another preserves course on the 26th February with Shute Fruit and Produce and had a fabulous time. This time we made orange curd, pears in mulled wine, apple and blackberry jelly, apple butter and bean piccalilli. We also made a ‘freezer jam’ but that went home with dad as my freezer is rather spatially challenged!

Lori, from Shute Fruit and Produce, and Chris, Lori’s friend, had recently been on a chocolate-making course and they demonstrated their newfound skills by teaching us how to make some fabulous chocolate and marmalade truffles! That was rather fun and quite easy so something I’ll do again!

Now I’m picking my brain trying to think what else I’ve been up to creatively. Hmmm. Oh yes I remember! I’ve been making paper! I bought a frame and deckle a few years ago and it had been a bit of a disaster at the time but for some reason I had the urge to try again. With a certain amount of success I must confess. It was jolly good fun! I even bought a cheap blender especially for the job…

I’ll write about the process another time but next on the ‘what have I been doing’ list is chutney! I made a pear and plum chutney last weekend. Yum! At least hopefully it’s yum. I won’t know for another 6 weeks or so…!

So what else have I been up to? Well I’ve been working on my city and guilds work which I’m yet to post about but here’s a sneaky preview just in case you’re curious:

So what else have I been doing in the last four weeks? Studying, studying and more studying! I’ve got to give a presentation on Thursday to three important strangers (I’ll tell you more about this after it’s happened) and I’m a bit terrified. So in order to enable me to just have that to think about this coming week I submitted a mathematics assignment a whole week and a half early and did an assessment a week early. So all I have to think about between now and Thursday is this presentation (it’ll be hard to concentrate at work this week I expect). Practice practice and more practice. My imaginary friends are getting a bit bored of this now so I think I’ll subject a few people at work to it in the next few days. That, of course, carries a risk however. What if they say it’s rubbish? I’m so terrified by the whole thing that I think that even the most constructive of criticism will see me ripping up my £94 train tickets to London… Every time I even start to think about I get the shakes! There I go again!

Something that is rather fabulous and has helped calmed my nerves this weekend is iHanna announcing the 2011 Postcard Swap! Yey! I missed last years swap so I was determined that I am going to participate this year! The deadline for signing up is 18th March 2011 and the last time I read iHanna’s blog there were over a hundred participants! I was concerned that the next few weeks will be hectic (trip to London next week, trip to Belfast the weekend after, study, etc etc) so decided that I would only sign up if I have 10 postcards made and ready. Can you guess what I’ve been doing this weekend?! I finished my postcards today and once I post this long blog entry I’m going to email iHanna to say “count me in!”. I will show you my postcards in my next post but most of them are currently sandwiched between books as the glue dries on the backing! Oh ok then…. as I sign off for today… here’s a tiny preview:

ShelterBox – Please Help

2011-03-12T14:43:00.000Z

I feel compelled to appeal to the generous to donate to ShelterBox so they can help more people in Japan. Please help if you can.

Thank you x

Sunday

2011-02-15T22:31:00.001Z

I had one more Valentine’s card to make on Sunday. I had an idea and just wanted some pretty paper. So I remembered back to a previous GPP Street Team challenge (No. 44 – In A Scrape, see here and here) and had another go! I won’t say much, the images tell the story…

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

GPP Street Team – Crusade No. 48

2011-02-13T00:24:00.000Z

Time for another GPP Street Team crusade!

Well I ummed and ahhed for ages about what to document. Initially I thought I’d document my time in Belfast but then thought “how do I pick what to document from three years?”. I then remembered that all of my airline baggage tags and other items were all stuck firmly in my diaries and I wasn’t about to dismantle those. I also decided that this year is a year for looking forward and not back. So I went back to scratching my head over what to document. I spent some time devising plans in my imagination of exciting things I could do just so that I could document them (trip to the moon, win the lottery and so forth)! The answer stared me in the face today. This morning I realised that if I were to send any Valentine’s cards to friends I had to get making them and in the post by noon! Eek! My ’evidence’ is of off cuts of the paper and other items that I used for those cards.

The page on the left was an afterthought. I wrote down information about the cards I made – how I made them and so forth. I’ve left some space because I’ve got one last card to make! The page on the right has more ‘evidence’. You see that silver paper with a pink pattern? That’s from a roll of delicious wall paper that I couldn’t resist buying a few months ago. The pink has a raised foamy texture. One of the cards I made had strips of it with varying widths. I also used faux pink and lilac gems on that particular card.

The second card I made was a simple heart stitched onto a white card blank. I stitched a ‘kiss’ on the flap of the envelope too! The third card used butterflies punched from the wall paper. Nice and simple. If you look at the strip in the middle of the page with the five gems on it you can see big blobs of silicon glue. That was the piece of paper I’d spodged some glue on to use during the card making.

Being single (with sadness in my heart) I have decided that instead of being all-out anti-valentine I will focus on the fond love I hold for my very good friends. They have been there for me during some really tough times and this is a perfect time to send them a little ‘thank you’.

I stamped the nickname of one my friends on their card to make it personal so ‘Love’ is the evidence of the stamps I used:

Finally here’s the pricking template I used for the second card with some evidential red embroidery floss:

I do hope the recipients of the cards don’t read this article before the postman delivers on Monday as their names are on the evidence pages! Oops! Shhhh I won’t tell them if you don’t…

Fudge Thursday

2011-02-12T22:34:00.000Z

I hereby name Thursday as Fudge Thursday! I went round a friend’s house and helped her to make fudge. With it being Valentine’s weekend she wanted to make pink fudge. And wow was it pink:

I haven’t tried it (well I did lick the bowl and spoon but I’m sure that doesn’t count ehem) but my friend said that it was jolly tasty! Excellent!

In the spirit of pink food colouring my chum then went on to make some cakes:

Now those I did try and they were scrummy!

Fudge Adventure

2011-02-06T14:36:00.001Z

For some reason this week I had in incredible sudden urge to make fudge! I have no idea why! Well I succumbed and had a bash on Thursday night.

I found a great recipe and the website even had an instructional video which certainly helped.

The ingredients list was basic – milk, condensed milk, demerara sugar and butter

I poured the milks into a non-stick pan (a bargain purchase from Sainsbury – 70% off!) and then added the sugar to the middle of the pan. It's important to melt the sugar in the middle so that it doesn’t crystallise at the edge of the pan and then drop back in making the mixture crunchy. While it was gently melting I stirred the bottom so that it didn’t catch.

It took about five minutes but it all melted just fine.

Bringing it up to the boil I stirred continuously and scraped the bottom of the pan so that it didn’t catch.

I had some fun trying to get the heat on the hob right because I’ve got a terrible electric hob and it’s either cold, hot or uber hot.

After about ten minutes I tested the mixture by putting a blob of it in a glass of ice cold water to see how it cools. After taking it off the heat I had to start beating the mixture.

The instructions said that beating should take about ten minutes but twenty minutes later I was still going…! The longer you beat it the grainier the fudge becomes.

After the fudge had formed a ball I tipped most of it into a rectangular pot which was lined with greaseproof paper.

I added a handful of raisins to the rest of the mix and put it in another grease-proof-lined container.

The pan was relatively clean at the end. Well apart from the edges…

I put the fudge in the fridge overnight and then chopped it up into chunks the next day.

YUM!

Preserves Course

2011-02-06T13:13:00.001Z

Last weekend Dad and I went on a preserving course run by Shute Fruit and Produce. We had fantastic fun and each came away with two jars of lemon curd, a jar of marmalade, a jar of strawberry jam and some lovely tomato and apple chutney all made by the class. The course was held in Bishopsteignton Community Centre and there were six participants. Lori was our teacher and her friend Chris helped out making sure we all had utensils, oodles of tea and so forth. I’ve never seen one lady do so much washing up in one day!
Lori and Chris:

After arriving we all sat down with tea and coffee and introduced ourselves. I mentioned my previous chutney-making adventure and it provoked lots of teflon-jokes throughout the day. First up we started making the marmalade. Juicing the oranges and lemons and then scraping out the pulp to go in a muslin ‘bag’. We chopped up the orange and lemon peel to make our rind for the jam. Water added, the lot went on the hob for a slow boil.
A quick pause while Chris cleaned away our mess and as-if-by magic produced nice clean utensils and boards and we moved onto tomato and apple chutney. Again we were all hands on and soon made quick work of the preparation. On the hob it went and it was time for morning tea! Hurrah! Chris produced a delicious cake (made by Chris I think? **Update** Cake was the masterpiece of Lori - thanks Chris!) and it was lovely sitting and having a chat.
Next on the list was lemon curd. For this we made our own and I had never realised how easy it is to do! Everyone ended up with a jar and a half but I just about managed a jar and a smidge. I’m not sure where all my liquid went!

Soon it was lunchtime! Lori and Chris prepared some salad, cheese, a selection of delicious bread and we lots of different chutneys to try.

After our delicious lunch we were all a bit stuffed! But we managed to stand up and get back in the kitchen. The marmalade mix had been bubbling for a while and now it was time to squeeze out all the pectin from the muslin bag. Dad volunteered for this job and what a messy job it was too!

Once all the ‘gunk’ (pectin) had been squeezed out and the bag was near enough dry the pan went back onto the stove and was brought up to a gentle boil. I became a bit obsessed with stirring it.

It didn’t take long before it was ready to be potted up.

The chutney was also ready to be potted up. It looked and smelled delicious.

Next on the list was strawberry jam and wow was it it easy to make! Strawberries (frozen ones keep their form better) and jam sugar (it must be jam sugar as it contains pectin which strawberries are lacking). That’s it! Really! After slowly melting the sugar in the pan with the strawberries the mixture was boiled for about 4 minutes. Seriously. It’s that easy!

While the jam was cooking a member of the class made delicious scones:

After learning how to test if the jam is done we canned it up….

…and then had a lovely afternoon cream tea!

My stash of goodies at the end of the day:

I had a wonderful day, dad enjoyed himself, and we’re planning on going on the next course which is a ‘masterclass’. I hope there are enough spaces for us!

Catch-Up

2011-01-21T01:35:00.001Z

I realised today that I’ve been jolly quiet on here and missed last week’s Creative Everyday Challenge 2011 check in! I have been creative (nearly) every day and I’ve thrown myself into the work for my embroidery City and Guilds again (http://madebymelanie.blogspot.com/) which is why I’m super quiet here!

Well this month’s prompt for the Creative Everyday Challenge 2011 is Cosmos and I guess many of us our contemplating our past, present and future. I used the prompt to think about the future. First things first, Here’s what I ended up with:

This spread was made from pages from a 2010 horoscope book! Instead of throwing it away I’ve used it as a base for the page and then I cut out key phrases to use as well. For sentences that I wanted to keep visible on the page I used a white wax crayon over them first before applying the paint:

Make your decisions firmly. I do tend to flimflam about a bit so this sentence is wise!

Expect the unexpected. Well you never know what is around the corner do you?

Let go. Sometimes you hold onto something, whether it’s an idea, a feeling, a person, an old jumper etc and perhaps it’s not doing you any good. Let’s say the old jumper smells. Well you definitely want to let go of that surely. A feeling that’s stopping you from moving forward – perhaps fear of failure? Well that’s stopping you from finding out what could happen next! A trapeze artist has to let go of one bar to catch the other and trust their judgement.

The gold paper that I’ve used with the words was actually from Easter egg that I was eating at the time! Yes you did read that correctly! An Easter egg! “What did you get for Christmas Melanie?”. “An Easter Egg from my Gran”. It was actually last year’s egg and was slightly out of date….but still tasted rather lovely regardless!

Sketchbook Update – It Arrived!

2011-01-07T23:08:00.001Z

Hurrah my sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project 2011 arrived at Art House Coop this afternoon! YEY!

Look at the adventure it had on the way!:

Roll on The Sketchbook Project 2012!!

Sketchbook Update!

2011-01-06T18:15:00.001Z

Ok I’m even more excited now! My sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project 2011 was picked up yesterday and it’s already with a delivery courier in New York! Believe it or not it travelled from East Midlands to Germany and then to New York. All while I was sleeping. My (not so) little sketchbook is certainly having an adventure! Here take a look:

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

GPP Street Team – Crusade No. 47

2011-01-06T01:15:00.001Z

Hurrah it’s time for another GPP crusade! But firstly Happy New Year to Michelle and fellow crusaders!

Ok so I struggled a little bit because I’m not very good at this writing-things-down-in-journals thing but I had a crack and enjoyed myself in the process so I guess that’s the important thing! This isn’t a very ‘structured’ double spread but it does show the chaos I feel around Christmas! I might try again later in the month when a few weeks have passed and I feel calmer!

I used the envelope that my brother sent a card to me in as a pocket for a couple of special cards that I received (the tree card was my favourite this year!):

I’ve got a little bit of a thing for postage stamps so I had to include a few of them from the envelopes I stashed away when I received cards through the post

I couldn’t resist the tinsel:

And nothing to do with Christmas would be complete without a drop of glitter glue!!

Sketchbook Project 2011 – It’s Posted!

2011-01-06T01:03:00.001Z

My sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project 2011 is on its way to the USA!

I am terribly excited! The last I looked on the DHL website it has “Departed Facility in East Midlands – UK”:

Ok why am I telling you this? Because I’m excited that’s why!

Sketchbook Project 2011 - Lines

2011-01-06T00:54:00.001Z

This was the last spread I did in the sketchbook before I finished and wow did it take some time and a lot of patience!

I started by machine stitching parallel wavy lines:

Then I divided the lines up into triangles by hand and finally added the lines:

Sketchbook Project 2011 – Sequins

2011-01-06T00:48:00.001Z

The doodle for this spread took some time but the stitchwork was reasonably quick:

The photographs don’t do the colours justice (well really I blame the lighting in my apartment – I’ve got a daylight lamp on its way to me as I type!). Well anyway, here are a few close ups for fun:

Sketchbook Project 2011 – Criss Cross

2011-01-06T00:42:00.001Z

This page for my sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project 2011 was really quick to do. I don’t think I need to say too much – the images say it all:

Sketchbook Project 2011 - Swirls

2011-01-06T00:26:00.001Z

This is my favourite spread for The Sketchbook Project 2011 so there are heaps of photos! My theme for the sketchbook was sleepless and I did actually start this one at 4.30am because I couldn’t sleep!

Ok so firstly I started by grabbing lots of scraps of fabric:

I lay a piece of white fabric down and then added the scraps on top, pinning them when necessary. The handy thing was doing this on a piece of cardboardas the pins went through the fabric into the corrugated card:

I lay a piece of black fabric on top and pinned some more…

I tacked the layers together and then machine-stitched swirls:

Here it is after I finished the stitching but before I removed the tacking stiches:

I cut away the black fabric and then slashed the layers beneath:

And here are my most favourite images of the year so far (well we are only 5 days in!):

And finally my pages in the sketchbook:

Sketchbook Project 2011 - Bubbles

2011-01-06T00:04:00.001Z

I’d like to share with you another page in my sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project 2011.

I started by machine stitching circles on a double layer of fabric.

Then I made little slits on the reverse and stuffed the bubbles with wadding (this is trapunto quilting):

Ta da!

Hallo 2011!

2011-01-01T23:41:00.000Z

Well hello 2011! Normally I approach a new year with sadness and trepidation. One of my new year’s resolutions this year, however, was to do the complete opposite and embrace 2011 with creative fervour! Rather marvellous yes? So did I spend the first day of the year being super crafty? Nope. I laid in, rushed over to dad’s (late I must add) with breakfast (which ended up as lunch) in my Miss Marple basket and proceeded to be lazy for the rest of the day. We did take a stroll in Paignton but the most creative I was today was buying a pink spotty sleeping bag. I could have bought one for half the price but this was spotty. I couldn’t resist.

So now the time has arrived to ponder all of my new year’s resolutions and what I’d like to achieve in 2011. So, with wine in hand, here I go:

Wear a skirt one day a week – I’ll be honest: how long this one lasts is anyone’s guess. I’m not a skirt person. Hence the resolution. It’s a vague attempt to be more ‘ladylike’
Creative Every Day 2011 Challenge – I’m going to try to do this as best I can
GPP Street Team monthly challenges – I started taking part in Michelle Ward’s monthly crusades in 2010 and had such a great time. I learnt a lot too and met some fabulous artists along the way. This resolution won’t be hard to keep!
Get making fabulous things to sell (and get selling them!) – finally time to start putting my words into actions!
List on Etsy! - deep breath and just do it!
Join an arty evening class to meet new people – I’ve seen a great class on glass fusing!
Don’t spend new year 2011/12 alone!

I have some more but they can stay in my head! And with that I’m going to creatively head off to bed in my spotty sleeping bag (at my dad’s house)!

**Update** I forgot a resolution! To post off my Sketchbook Project 2011 entry! Or is that more of a ‘to-do’ item? Not sure! But hurrah I finished it! :D

Where am I?

2010-12-31T17:43:00.000Z

I’ve realised that I haven’t blogged for ages! Well what better time to drop a quick message than on new year’s eve? I’ve been away for Christmas but I took my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project 2011 with me and I finished 2 pages while I was away and another one this morning! I have officially finished my sketchbook - YEY! I am currently umming and ahhing about putting a cover on my sketchbook. I might do that on Sunday. I’ve got to write a proper entry about my sketchbook but here’s a quick peek:

So with 2011 fast approaching I have cleared off my blackboard ready to be filled on New Year’s Day:

I hope everyone is having a wonderful new year and see you in 2011!

Fruit Chutney Adventure

2010-12-15T21:58:00.000Z

Yesterday I was bold and made ‘Boxing Day Chutney’. For anyone that wants the recipe take a visit to Kirsty’s Boxing Day Chutney. It’s divine. I took a jar to work today and we ended up eating half of it in one swoop! I’m not going to bore everyone with the recipe etc (see link above) but here are a few random snippets…

Firstly, of course there are the raw ingredients. Notice the fire extinguisher just in case…

And, of course, the obligatory glass of wine…

I soaked all of the dry fruit with orange juice:

While I cooked many of the other ingredients:

And yes that is a wok. My pan wasn’t big enough. Though I must point out that halved the ingredients which is a jolly good job really. So anyways when I bunged it all together it looked a bit like:

In the meantime I sterilised some jars in the oven:

In the end I had 6 jars of dubious-smelling chutney:

The recipe print-out is a bit worse for wear:

And the wok didn’t fare much better…

But I was happy enough… any excuse to wear my spotty apron…

Sketchbook Project 2011 – Black and White

2010-12-10T17:58:00.001Z

I finished another page for the Sketchbook Project 2011. I started by stitching together two pieces of old blanket (one black piece and one white) with a grid pattern:

I then did a spot of reverse applique:

I then put another layer of white blanket and machined some larger shapes:

A spot more reverse applique….

The finished pages:

Sketchbook Project 2011 - Weave

2010-12-10T17:20:00.001Z

I made another page interpretation for the Sketchbook Project 2011 the other day. I’m a bit late posting… This time I decided to do some weaving and making a card loom took me back to school days!

The images are pretty self-explanatory:

I was really pleased with my piece but I hated the way I’d stuck it in my sketchbook – it just looked ‘plonked’ onto the page:

So I attacked it, wrestled with the glue and re-applied it with some texture to the edge:

Sketchbook Project 2011 - Layers

2010-12-05T14:49:00.001Z

Yesterday I interpreted another page of ink doodles for my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project 2011. For this one I started by bonding some fabric scraps to cotton using Bondaweb and made some basic templates from an old bakewell tarts box (mmmm I love bakewell tarts!). I used the templates to mark the reverse of the fabric, made a little border inside and found it helpful to draw some guidelines:

I found it easier to stitch the lines on individual pieces before I cut them out:

So then I got started…

About three quarters of the way through I realised that I needed a few more layer pieces. By this point I was a bit bored but I carried on regardless and finally finished at silly o’clock in the morning! The top is a bit rubbish but this is a sketchbook of ideas so I like the unfinished look. Obviously if I did a ‘proper’ piece I’d finish it a bit more smartly. Ta da:

Meet Reginald…

2010-12-03T21:28:00.001Z

I’d like to introduce you to my new friend Reginald:

He’s my Craft ROBO and I’m very pleased to welcome him into my home. I bought him from a really fast UK supplier called: MDP Supplies. I bought him on Wednesday and he was with me just shy of 24 hours later! I had to wait to use him because I had to do an online assessment for my latest Open University course but with that out of the way I got playing! And wow! I didn’t do a huge amount as I spent a lot of time installing and playing with the software – you get a really useful demo DVD so I watched that too. With some apprehension I tried cutting on various mediums. Firstly I had to figure out how to use the carrier sheet – a piece of plastic with grid lines on that is covered with a layer of adhesive that allows you to reposition things – like a giant post-it note I guess. Well I kept getting my paper wonky so there was some mild cursing. Then, of course, the instructions tell you not to get lint or dust on it. So what did I do? Got the arm of my very fluffy jumper stuck on it. I guess I’ll end up buying new carrier sheets sooner than I expected! My first trial was on a piece of paper. It wasn’t until today that I read on a website that smooth paper will curl up when pulled off the carrier sheet. Yes I learnt that the hard way. But how fabulous is this regardless?!:

Next I had to try self-adhesive vinyl. I wasn’t feeling particularly inspired so I used a predictable (but fabulous) word:

I think my reaction was this: “oooooo love it love it love it!”. Exactly like that in fact. With some minor jumping up and down thrown in for good measure. I also tried cutting on a card blank and it took some thinking about where to put it on the carrier sheet and how the grids etc worked on the software. It’s very exciting indeed and as soon as I finish typing this I’m off to play with Reggie! So that’d be right about now! Cheerio!

My Latest Craft Adventure was Ridonkulous

2010-12-03T21:05:00.000Z

Last weekend I attempted to screen print a top for a friend for their birthday gift. I put it in the post on Monday, it arrived on Wednesday, his birthday was yesterday and he still hasn’t opened it! Well I’m afraid I can’t wait any longer – I want to share with you what I did! I’m pretty certain he doesn’t read this blog so that should be fine. In the rare event that he is actually reading this now then fear not: your gift isn’t a grey t-shirt!

My last screen printing attempts were using paper template (very limited life indeed!) and I even tried to cut a white shower curtain… but that was just a disaster. So this time I decided to try making a template by using Mod Podge as a blocker. I read that you can use PVA glue but I’ve had a pot of Mod Podge begging me to use it for quite some time now so this was it’s moment!

I stretched some organza on an embroidery hoop (12 inch diameter) and made sure it was super tight. I then traced the outline of a simple word onto the organza with a pencil:

I thought it would be really faint and was surprised to see the pencil line really clearly:

Next came the Mod Podge moment… it took ages! I had to do a couple of layers because there were a few teeny holes. I’ve held the frame up to a window so you can see the Mod Podge and the untouched letters:

Ok so I did a test run and it was quite successful so next I moved onto my first top. That’s the one I sent as a gift. Unfortunately I was a little excessive with the ink and ended up with a bit of a mark where there shouldn’t have been one. Oops. I figured that the mistake makes it unique and decided to send it anyway.

So I figured out where I’d been careless, cleaned up the mess and then did a print on a t-shirt that is for me - with success! Hurrah! It took me a while to figure out where to print it but I was careful not to put the frame down until I was 100% sure where I wanted it to go:

Next I carefully spread the ink (I should have been sensible and masked more of the screen, using masking tape or similar, but I was just lazy):

And ta da! My t-shirt!

I let it dry, ironed it as per the ink instructions (Speedball if you are wondering) and then put it through a wash to make sure it was fixed. I’m so pleased with it that I wore it today! Here’s the proof:

Do you want to know THE best thing? My credit card has treated me to a Craft ROBO and I’m excessively excited about the possibilities I’ve been presented with! I’m sure I’ll tell you all about my Craft ROBO adventures soon (once I get over the shock of the financial investment!)…

Sketchbook Project 2011 - Squares

2010-12-01T00:39:00.001Z

Well finally I have something to share with you about my entry to the Sketchbook Project 2011. I’ve already been through the sketchbook and have doodled repeated patterns in black ink and now I’m interpreting those patterns in stitch. I finally finished my first interpretation – which happened to be the last pattern in the book!

I rather like the reverse of the piece so I took a photo before it was forever hidden in the sketchbook:

Enlightening..

2010-12-01T00:33:00.001Z

What a busy few days! I want to tell you about the screenprinting I got up to but I can’t just yet – I have to wait until a friend of mine receives a birthday present… and then I can show you! Apart from making a bit of a mess with ink I made a light box using instructions from Jen Kiaba Photography. I used a sturdy box, a vicious blade, some tracing paper and tape.

It works quite well but I need another desk lamp I think for it to really be useful. That and some magic dust to suddenly turn me into a fabulous photographer…

A friend of mine came to stay on Sunday and we had a mooch around the charity shops. I bought a lucky dip bag of jewellery and was thrilled to have unearthed some really beautiful necklaces that I will wear. Also in the bag were some peculiar clip on earrings (one pair were very Pat Butcher stylie). I simply have to show you some earrings that made me go “ooooo”:

They’re so unique!

What else have I done? Oh yes I finally sussed out how to make a banner for my Etsy shop on photoshop. I haven’t gotten as far as writing the small print or listing anything but slowly I’ll find the confidence to make the leap (I hope!). A banner is a good start though. I’ve set myself the challenge of listing my first item by the end of the week. The only problem is that my photography skills aren’t all that so I’m worried about looking unprofessional! Practice makes perfect I suppose.

Wreck This Journal

2010-11-21T14:51:00.001Z

Last week sometime I received in the post this great book called “Wreck This Journal” by Keri Smith. This isn’t the kind of book you buy if you want to keep it nice and neat and in one piece. As the title suggests you have to wreck it! It might make you gulp a little to be wrecking something that you just paid £7ish for but I’m glad I purchased it. So far I have:

Stabbed a page with a pencil (very satisfying!):

Flung it across the room several times
Painted a page with leftover paint:

Ripped a page (I think I even GRRRRd while I did it in a lion-eating-dinner stylie):

Scribbled on a page (very preschool and fabulous):

Written in it (I defy anyone to say that they don’t think the word ‘banana’ is nice to say):

Glued pages together by mistake (I was supposed to write something that was a sign…so I wrote “Go for it!” in glitter glue…and then forgot and closed the book. Ehem):

Dripped stuff on it (so far just red wine…):

Stamped the front cover when I was bored with a bubblewrap stamp being used on another project:

I’ve only scratched the surface so far. One of the pages says to take it in the shower. I don’t have a shower… I must borrow a shower. I don’t think dropping it in the bath with me will have quite the same effect (plus the water might turn orange from the paint and then I’ll look like a fruit). More updates as I go along…

P.S. Now I’m concerned you think I’m stinky with not having a shower. Rest assured I have a bath every day.

P.P.S. Now I’m concerned that you all think I’m terribly wasteful with baths taking more water than a shower! I’m very economical on the water, being mindful of environmental issues and all that. I would get a shower if I could but my landlord is resistant on the idea of actually spending money on his property…

GPP Street Team – Crusade No.46: What’s Your Hang Up?

2010-11-21T14:13:00.001Z

I missed last month’s crusade through moving back to England etc but this month I was determined to participate! It was a bit scary what with it being about proudly hanging up a piece of work. Scary stuff! I don’t have a frame lurking about and since I’ve gone on a bit of a ridiculous spending spree since I’ve been back I was determined to use only what I’ve got in my apartment. I dug out an old 20x25cm canvas that I had already used and decided to play with that. Whatever it had originally been I had obviously decided it was rubbish as I’d already wacked a layer of gesso over it and hidden it in the drawer. I gave it another layer of gesso and then attacked it with bright acrylic paints. The original plan had been to then layer on tissue paper and make it quite textural but after I’d stamped it with old faithful bubble wrap I decided I quite liked it as it was and stopped!

I did this at about 2am last night - one of my favourite things is staying up all of Saturday night and making a mess when everyone else seems to be sleeping. But only if I don’t have plans on a Sunday that is. One of the joys of living alone I guess along with not having to tidy up if you don’t want to and having complete control of the TV.

Well anyway this morning (after a few hours sleep, I’m only human after all) I bashed a nail into the wall and hung my canvas! I’ve never ever displayed anything I’ve made and it’s sort of liberating! I couldn’t decide where to put it but ended up putting it in a position with a space underneath it where I can (if I feel like it) place another matching-sized canvas! This is a rubbish photo but I feel that I need to prove that I’ve put it on display:

Thank you Michelle for another great crusade and for making me realise that it’s super liberating displaying your own work! And now some close-ups simply because I think they’re visually yummy!

Here I am at 4am…

2010-11-21T04:31:00.001Z

…wide awake(ish). As it’s Sunday tomorrow (today!) and I have no plans I decided to stay up through the wee small hours and do a variety of artsy stuff which I rather enjoyed. Firstly I did more to my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project 2011 but I shan’t be showing you what I’ve done yet. But just to prove that I’ve been doing something here’s a brief look:

Didn’t give much away there did I? The cover doesn’t lie flat anymore so that’s sort of proof I’ve been working in it right?! I took a look at some artwork of a few of the other participants and, well, it’s fantastic. Nothing like mine at all! As in they’ve all got some kind of talent for drawing and I haven’t… I was rather worried for a while but then remembered that I’m not a painter I’m a textile person and then suddenly I had some great ideas and stopped faffing about! I’ve drawn patterns on every other page with black ink and now I’m going to go and fill the remaining blank pages with mixed media interpretations of the patterns.

What else did I do tonight? I attacked my ‘Wreck This Journal’ a little – more on that tomorrow. I also started to restring the handle of a basket I got from a charity shop (well actually my father bought it for me which was rather nice of him).

I walked down Paignton high street with it full of a haphazard china and some cute little cups. I felt very Miss Marple indeed! I’m going to use it for shopping! Although I am wondering how to walk around a store with this basket in one hand, the shop basket in the other and still be able to pick things off the shelf? Hm… this could require a little bit of thought. But still, wouldn’t it be brilliant if baskets came back in fashion?! I wonder if the old ladies in St Marychurch will mug me for my fabulous basket. “No no dear that’s not for a young person, it’s not a toy you know…”.

So what else did I do tonight? Oh yes I did a GPP Street Team challenge! More on that tomorrow too!

Right, I’m finally ready to curl up in my bed. Good night!

Catch Up

2010-11-14T23:19:00.001Z

I bought a set of circle knitting looms and a knitting board last week. I saw a knitting board on TV on Sunday and had the sudden urge to be using one! I can’t get on with knitting because I’m so cack-handed with the needles but the looms are fantastic!!! I’ve made a few hats and yesterday/today I made some fingerless gloves which I love!

I suspect I will be giving everyone hats for Christmas this year!

Last week I also bought a book called ‘Wreck This Journal’ on the recommendation of one of the 21 Secrets tutors. Basically you follow the instructions on each page which are pretty much about wrecking the book! It’s about teaching you to break boundaries when it comes to journaling. I’m going to document my progress. So here is it pre-wrecking:

What else is there to tell you? Oh yes, I finally properly started my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project. I say ‘properly’ because I did do the first page using a paint scraping technique but I hated it and ripped it out and started again! My theme is ‘Sleepless’ and I’ve opted to look at repetitive patterns. You would try to count sleep or something equally as repetitive if you can’t sleep so I’m going to doodle repetitive patterns. I’ve already made a good start and I must say that the monotony is jolly relaxing! I used to doodle these kind of patterns when I was a child but nowadays they would be called Zentangle patterns I expect. When I feel brave I will post some images to show you my progress.

Get It Out - Get it Down

2010-11-14T22:31:00.002Z

Get It Out - Get it Down
Originally uploaded by madebymelanie
This was created as part of a 21 Secrets class called 'Get it out - get it down" by Connie Hozvicka. Hidden in the pages are my deepest thoughts about something that makes me sad. I've overlaid the text pieces with acrylic gel medium (to create texture). As I did this there was a beautiful sunset so I decided to capture the entire moment as it was quite emotional. Although there are no words on the pages I don't feel that I need any - everything I need to remember is captured.

Doodlicious!

2010-11-02T23:05:00.001Z

I finally made a mess! Huzzah! Last night I did more ‘kit’ card making (yes yes it might be a creative cheat but I’ve got some really cute kits that require not a lot of thought but quite a lot of focus – just the job when you don’t want to think!) and some more this morning (if my silicon glue was toxic I’d be keeled over by now). But tonight I did something FAR more exciting. I started a 21 Secrets class weeks ago where I painted a doodle on a huge sheet of brown packing paper:

I cut the page up into A5-ish sheets and then had to pack up for the move. Well today I finally found them again (huzzah!), dug out a really rubbish one-stitch sewing machine that gives super-irregular stitching and got making my Doodlicious Daybook.

Jolly good fun. Next I need to think about this sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project 2011 as I’m running out of time but am really stuck with my theme - ‘sleepless’. Hmm.

How much silicon glue does one girl need?

2010-10-31T12:29:00.000Z

Well here I am. I'm almost back. I've been in my little flat in England for just over a week now and it's still a total tip - it's taking an age to unpack. I suspect it's taking so long because I find it incredibly boring. As for crafty/arty mess making I'm not quite there yet. But I do seem to be dealing with my glumness by spending a lot of money on art materials. Well I suppose it could be worse - I could be wasting the money on alcohol in the traditional English way of dealing with woes (!). I recently took a stroll into Wilkinsons and spent a fortune on cheap kid's paints to play with in the 21 Secrets playground and then got carried away and bought a heap of stuff. How much silicon glue does one girl need? Today I sat here feeling sad so I ended up buying an envelope scoring board from Ebay… why? Well obviously I’d like to make some envelopes for my very-soon-to-be online Etsy store but did I need to buy it right now this minute? Nope. Then, of course, I simply had to purchase some envelope glue for the envelopes I’ll probably not make for ages (my excuse? I’ve not seen the glue anywhere else and so wanted to get it quick before it vanished. Yep, a whimsy excuse if ever I’ve heard one). And while I was there I bought some photo glue stuff because it’s been recommended and I’m curious. Did I need it? Probably not. Although all of this stuff will get used, it’s just a matter of time. That’s what I keep saying to myself. Like a badger stocking up on the tasty stuff ready for the winter. So anyway, back to the creative desert (not to be confused with the creative dessert which is a far tastier alternative). I was a little prepared before the whole exam-move-job upheaval and bought a card kit so that I could sit and do something that doesn’t require much thinking. It feels like cheating to use kits but needs must during difficult times. So I have been interrupting the unpacking with silicon glue action so it’s not an entire desert. There’s a 10m squared patch of grass and a small fountain there too.

I enter this new week with a very heavy heart

2010-10-17T22:50:00.001+01:00

Hallo! Just a quick post to say I’m still alive. The self-imposed art-diet in aid of my exam is over (hurrah! Although the exam was a disaster!) but unfortunately it’s been replaced with another one because I have to pack up the Belfast flat and head back to England by the end of the week. This is something I’m hugely glum about so when I’m done and dusted I will throw myself into my crafty mess-making with excessive fervour as a crying-avoidance tactic. Self medication with craft. So I enter this new week with a very heavy heart indeed.

Had to share…

2010-09-30T23:13:00.001+01:00

…although I’m on a self-imposed crafty pause in an attempt to concentrate on revision I am still poring over the net to get my daily fix of creative loveliness. I was having a gander at iHanna’s blog and she suggested this great blog article plasticine stamp printing by Filth Wizardry. It’s all about using plasticine to make your own printing stamps. I’m definitely going to try this.

Where did my creativity go?

2010-09-28T21:46:00.000+01:00

Indeed where has my creativity gone? Unfortunately I've had to put it in a box for a few weeks. Which is incredibly difficult I must say! But fear not as the box is a pretty tin from Ikea. Basically I've got an OU exam in just under three weeks (eek!) and I'm also moving out of the Belfast apartment and that seems to be taking an incredible amount of organisation. Which is crackers as it's not like I'm moving into a new place. However my three years in Northern Ireland and my refusal to live out of a suitcase means a lot of accumulated 'things'. I've also got an uncertain time with my job so that on top of everythig else isn't doing my emotional well-being much good. I'm wobbly, put it that way. Oh and I've been swapping over work laptops too which has been a trial in itself! I'm just downloading Windows Live Writer which I am completely lost without. It's a great blogging program.

I am itching to be 'making' and I'm saving myself for 21 Secrets which starts soon :D So I must study hard and then those moments of creativity (which will be conducted out of packing boxes) will be extra special. The bad thing is that in my desire I went on a mini crafty spending spree yesterday. Oops. Now here's me saying 'oops' but what I really mean is 'Yey! Hurry up postman!'. But, again, my goodies will arrive and I have zero time to do anything with them until after 22nd October. Although just looking at gorgeous papers and so forth is pleasure in itself! Hurry up postman!

21 Secrets

2010-09-21T17:41:00.001+01:00

I am super excited! Today I signed up for 21 Secrets: An Art Journal Playground, which starts on 1st October, and I can’t wait! Ok so October will be a busy month with the uni exam on the 14th (for which I need to do a mahoosive amount of revision for) plus leaving Northern Ireland for good the following week so I’ll be boxing up the flat, trying to pack it in my little Ford Fiesta in a kind of puzzle challenge, sailing across the Irish Sea to Liverpool and then follows a scary zoom down the country to Devon. EEK. So I figured that I need a balm to all that stress! Well that’s my excuse anyway. I can’t wait! There are 21 Artists teaching 21 classes and there will be lots of instructional videos, tutorials, pdfs etc. Ooo that reminds me that I must organise moving my phoneline and broadband back to England. I think I’ll have to start writing a list of things I’ll need to do (I’m dreading this). Anyway, if you’re interested and want more information about 21 Secrets do take a look by clicking on the image below:

How exciting!

Notebook for a Chum

2010-09-19T16:26:00.001+01:00

I feel like it’s been ages since I last posted – well I suppose it has really. I had a birthday last week (another year older, another year wiser??) and one of my friends flew over to visit so I’ve been otherwise engaged! Alas today, the day I dropped her at the airport, I’ve come out with a stinking cold and I’m feeling pretty rotten indeed. What better way to cheer oneself up than to have a good ogle at Etsy, catch up with everyone else’s blogs and, indeed, write my own.

I wanted to thank my friend for taking the time (and expense) to fly over so I made her a little gift – a cute little notebook (14cmx14cm). I gave it to her on Thursday morning (the paint barely dry) but swiftly nabbed it back off her to varnish! The covers are a combination of the GPP Street Team crusade No. 44 and instructions from Mary Green’s Collage Coterie class. Enough chitterchatter, time for some pics!

So here’s how the front and back covers started out – they were two pages of a paperboard children’s book “Ten Green Bottles”:

If I had of had some sandpaper to hand I might have considered sanding the pages down as they’re glossy but in the end I decided to just remove the top layer of paper on each side:

Then I applied a layer of gesso on both sides. While I was at it I also painted a few book pages with gesso too:

I couldn’t wait any longer, I simply had to use my brand new toy (a Crop-A-Dile II that Mary Green inspired me to buy). Look at this bad boy!:

So I grabbed a selection pages that I’d already cut to size (13.5cmx13.5cm) and, with a bit of measurement, punched holes through them. I’ve used a variety of papers – recycled book pages, painted papers from previous activities, cardboard, some lined paper etc etc:

Right, so back to the fun messy part. I adopted the painting-with-a-credit-card approach and attacked the boards with acrylics and some gouache paint. I used some of the papers that I’d created on the GPP crusade as inspiration. I also canvassed my chum secretly for her favourite colour mixes.

I had a bit of a mishap when I thought I’d paint one side with black and then overlay it with other colours. I’ll be honest it just looked terrible. So I waited for it to completely dry and then went over the whole side with orange etc. My radiator came in jolly useful:

So here we go, the finished article. The front:

Inside front cover:

The first page is a pocket (learnt from Mary Green) and another page is from a previous paint project:

I put some random pages in with some text un-gessoed for fun:

The back page is another pocket:

Inside back cover:

And finally the back:

I’m really pleased with my first ever notebook.

Collage Coterie – Lesson 4

2010-09-08T17:23:00.001+01:00

Last night I worked on lesson 4 of Mary Green’s Collage Coterie class. The lesson prompt was ‘Three’ so I made three ATCs (my new favourite thing) with trios of things on them. I worked quickly on this lesson and the ATCs are unfussy but nice enough. My favourite ATC is the one with the cherries on. They were rather bright on the background so I gave them some gesso treatment.

I’ve starting thinking, though, what do people write on the back of ATCs? If they write anything at all that is. I think I’ll post a question on the class’s Flickr discussion board.

Mini Art Journal Demo

2010-09-07T22:01:00.001+01:00

I saw this video on YouTube and I simply had to share it. timewithtasha is demonstrating how to make a mini hardcover art journal. I’m definitely going to try this sometime.

GPP Street Team – Crusade No.44: In A Scrape

2010-09-07T21:09:00.000+01:00

Another month and another crusade! By curious coincidence one of my credit cards has expired which was just perfect timing! So yesterday I covered the table with newspaper and scraped lots of lovely acrylic and gouache paint across a mixture of A5 papers and card using some hastily made stencils on a few. To begin with I wasn’t particularly convinced that I was going to end up with a good result but I’m very happy with my luscious papers! I took them in to work today to scan them on the super duper scanner there and I showed a few people. They all said “oh, er…. lovely?” in the style of receiving a toaster for Christmas when what they really wanted was a Wii Fit.

Well anyway I couldn’t decide which ones to show you so I’m showing you them all! I’m just itching to cut them into ATCs!

Thank you for another great crusade Michelle!

Collage Coterie – Lesson 3

2010-09-05T21:20:00.001+01:00

I started lesson 3 of Mary Green’s Collage Coterie class with nervousness (in the super new sketchbook I made earlier – see previous post). For the last two lessons I discovered the joys of ATCs and their small size. So to then move on to something bigger was rather daunting indeed. I ummed and ahhed for absolutely ages. The prompt was “The shape of a place” and initially I wanted to use a place that was relevant to me. I gathered old images of Watford, Torquay and Belfast, along with old map images from the 1900’s or earlier. But then I considered the copyright side of things and opted for the images provided so generously on all the great vintage image blogs online. So many of the images/prints in today are from Mary’s class with two exceptions: firstly the French postage stamps are original (I knew I’d find a use for the great stamps I impulse-purchased a few weeks ago!) and secondly the little crow is taken, with thanks, from http://antiqueimages.blogspot.com/. So here’s what I came up with:

The page is a lot lighter in real life to be honest. Plus it’s got a thin wash of gold paint on it as is my latest fad. The chalks I’ve ordered online still haven’t turned up so I bought some cheap pastels in Tesco to use. Unfortunately they’re a bit too hard so I resorted to having to rub them onto the image and tried smudging them instead of using an applicator. The results aren’t great to be honest but that’s just the way it goes. I used a black drawing pen to add some outlines to the couple and to the Eiffel Tower. I’ve decided that he’s proposing to her but she looks a bit embarrassed. Notice the crow to the right of them waiting….slightly sinister!

From cheap notebook to handy sketchbook

2010-09-05T20:11:00.001+01:00

I was a little bit enthusiastic and temporarily jumped to lesson 5 of the Collage Coterie class and I ended up making a sketchbook which I’m really proud of. As always (you’ll be bored of hearing this now I expect) my sketchbooks are not in the location that I am (you’d think I’d be more prepared wouldn’t you?!). So I was in Tesco (yes, again (!), it appears I live there these days, in the stationary and craft sections) and picked up 5 notebooks for £1. They’re the school book size and at the time I thought I might use them to revise in (I’ve got an Open University exam coming up) BUT having read lesson 3 of the Collage Coterie class I figured I need a sketchbook. Nothing too big but nothing too small. So following some instruction from Mary I turned an ordinary dull thin-paper lined notebook into a sketchbook with pages made from old books, printer paper and used envelopes! I’m really rather pleased. Having said that I remembered after the event that I have access to a long-reach stapler and I could actually have just made a similar sketchbook much more quickly and easily! But never mind.

Collage Coterie – Lesson 2

2010-09-02T22:37:00.001+01:00

Gosh I enjoyed making these ATCs for the second lesson of Mary Green’s Collage Coterie class. I got a bit carried away with the gold paint. I ordered some chalks yesterday and I was hoping they would have arrived today but alas not so some of my ladies are still black and white. I think, on reflection, I might just colour the lady bending down to touch the butterfly to balance the card out a bit. The lady peeking through the blooms is my favourite – she’s going to stay black and white as a contrast to the flowers.