Here are my entries for the 'Think Monday, Think ATC' challenge of Frogs. My first thought was to go with the Frog prince theme, hence this little fella with his grungeboard crown and triple embossed golden ball. The background is ecoline ink and salt and the zig zags are from a paperartsy border. The numbers are also from paperartsy. Then I got to thinking about a saying we have in our house 'madder than a box of frogs', but this little guy looked more sad than mad, so I had to alter the text!

 

Purple and Green

 

This is my entry for Wednesday Stamper's theme, in by the skin of my teeth, rather late on Tuesday The background is alcohol inks in lettuce and wild plum, over stamped in imperial purple with a crafty individuals stamp of a tree. The birds are from paperstreet on Etsy. And since the inks were out, I made a card for my great aunt, whose birthday it is on Friday in the same colours.

Mixed media - and a lot of beeswax

 

Just come back from a beeswax collage course with Dyan at Art from the Heart , and thought maybe this could be the thing for the mixed media challenge on Mittwochstempler this week. Ranger dabbers, tissue paper stamped images and some fab collage pictures from Lisa'a Altered art, together with some german scrap, and BEESWAX! Hmm, think the technique may need a little refining, but oh how much fun can you have with your clothes on - and how much mess can a girl make!

The Smiths meet saucy Victoriana

So it's my little sister's birthday tomorrow. If you knew my sister, you would know that she is pretty much obsessed by how she looks and when we went to New York a few years ago, I could not believe a) how many clothes she took and b) how many times she changed before we went out every evening! Not sure how I arrived on this particular composition, but the inspiration came all of a sudden in the middle of Wednesday night so after work on Thursday I got down to it. The background came from my friend and teacher Kate's article in this month's Craft Stamper magazine. The image came from a free download somewhere ages ago, a bit of Tim Holtz stamp over the background and the text from the classic song by the Smiths. It just needed a bit of something to finish it off, so the stitch to wear prompted me to create a bit of a border with the sewing machine. Continuing the theme I added a press-stud, et voila! I hope she likes it!

holidays and birds

It's the school holidays, so that means a bit more time for messing about. Combined with having no car for a week whilst mine was off the road, I got quite productive for me! I'm not quite sure why, but sometimes it takes me hours to do even the simplest atc, and other times they just fly out. Anyway, I'm on a bird phase at the moment - they are everywhere in all things crafty.

The background is distress inks, for the wire I used Tim Holtz's borderline mask, and the bird is also one of his new stamps. To emphasise the wire element, I wound wire and beads around a cocktail stick to make a border.

Continuing the bird theme, this atc was one that took me a fraction of the time that the previous one did, and my husband says he much prefers it to the other one.
I used Claudine Hellmuth acrylics for the background, a paperartsy stamp for the tree, and the free stamp from this months Craft Stamper magazine for the bird.

I also managed to get around to doing a journal page of our recent ski holiday. It was the first time my sporty husband had ever been skiing, and some time since I had been, so it was something of an experience for both of us. It is a long time since I have laughed as much, as often, and a long time since I have been quite so tired! I thought that getting some of the thoughts and memories down would be a good way of reminding myself of the things I need to remember for next year's holiday!

mediocrity complex?

My arty friend who continues to inspire me, not least for her ability to keep so many balls in the air at once, told me about art journalling. As someone who has kept a diary on and off since I was about nine, it sounded like a great idea to experiment with new ideas and get some of the clutter in my head out in the open. I have to say I have found it remarkably cathartic so far, it helped to clarify some things that I have been struggling with for a couple of weeks, although my husband is starting to worry that I am feeling overwhelmed at the moment, but as I reminded him, most of what I do is self-inflicted, and I only do it because I want to - I just wish there were more hours in the day or days in the week!

Wednesday stamper - skinny

This is my contribution to this weeks wednesday stamper challenge for a skinny. As I also had to make a birthday card for my friend who is 40 this week, I have combined the two. It just so happens that she too is skinny! The background papers are basic grey, and I have used a combination of acrylic paints and distress inks. The text stamps are from a making memories set and the other words are from a old book. The stamping around the edge is from one of Tim Holtz's new sets.