Seaside surprise

I had a lovely visit to the coast last week to see my mum, sister and her partner. I was well fed (and watered!) and had the chance to walk on the beach and chat to the seagulls. What, just me? Ok then. There is always something going on, something interesting, different or fun to look at or to do there. On the Friday evening we heard cycle bells and we rushed to the window to see a whole straggling string of cyclists, young and not so young, wearing silver foil costumes to resemble a robot or the Wizard of Oz Tin Man, and with their bikes covered in fairy lights. Mad, but brilliant. Apparently it happens every week in September! Then a little while later a laser light show started on the pier. It was a beautiful warm night so we just went out for a walk along the promenade to enjoy it. There is a real holiday atmosphere there and I am so glad my mum has been able to move to such a lively, vibrant place.

When my sister and I get together the talk always turns crafty. In the nice way. I knew she would love the idea of paper bag books/albums, and I was not wrong! Now I will be sending her some bits and pieces to create one herself to showcase her art dolls. But in the chatting about the various ways they can be constructed, my mum produced a gift I made for her a couple of years ago. It hadn’t occurred to me until that minute that it was also a sort of paper bag album. I didn’t have my camera with me so these are taken in my sister’s kitchen on a mobile phone. And some prosecco had been consumed…I think this is why we forgot about December…

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I made this following the instructions below from Clare Charvill at My Creative Spirit. This lady makes the most amazing projects.  It was the first time I had done anything like that, so I stuck pretty close to the tutorial I think. But then again if you are making the same object with the same materials I guess that is likely to happen! The paper pad for the inside is Graphic 45 A Place in Time and the outside sheet is Anna Griffin. I had to find something big enough as I only had a small pad of the G45 papers and this seemed to work nicely. The panel on the front is also Graphic 45 but I can’t remember which range – might be Secret Garden. I didn’t have any of the bags then so made my own pockets from brown parcel paper. Every page has got a top-loading pocket with a pull tab, but as they are filled with names and dates we didn’t think we should photograph them!

It took a while to make, but the instructions were clear and I don’t remember anything going wrong. It was enjoyable, I was pretty darn pleased with the end result and my mum loves it.

 

If at first…

Or is it ‘Oops I Did it Again’?

I previously posted a card I made and was not happy with. What I had in my head did not make it into paper form. But I knew I liked the colours I had chosen, and the stamp is adorable, so I decided to have another go. A fellow blogger Kim (go see her amazing work) suggested perhaps a bit of depth would be good. That gave me an idea. Thanks Kim!

I used dies to make the base card and a frame. I also caved in on the clean idea and ‘vintaged it up’ a bit, which I think works better. The controversial (lol) giant shells didn’t make it into this version – I tried them but was still unsure so opted for a tiny anchor instead. Same issue, but reversed, and different embellishment!

There is glitter, but it doesn’t show in the photo. That seems to happen a lot. Someone should invent photogenic, non-camera-shy-but-still-subtle glitter. It’ll probably need a catchier name than that… GlitterArti, maybe?

I definitely prefer this version. It isn’t super, but I think it is better. Thank you to everyone who commented on the previous card post. Sometimes a team effort is just what I need!

The stamp is from Crafty Individuals; blue spotty paper and bunting are from Serif digikits and the red spotty is from Craftwork Cards.

What has plenty of ‘or’s, but no boat?

This does. Another ‘warts and all’ post..

The temperature in my corner of the UK is 32°C today. We are not prepared for such things. Air conditioning is not commonplace; people are hot, and there is no cooling breeze, real or man-made. I work in an old building which takes ages to warm up in winter and ages to cool down in summer. There has been some petty pilfering of, and ugly scenes over fans. Towns are unbearable in weather like this, especially if you have to work and try to still look vaguely professional and not like a melted waxwork gamely sporting a summer frock.

What happened to the Goldilocks effect? Why is it either ‘unseasonably cold’ or ‘unseasonably hot’? Why is it hardly ever ’just right’? of course I know my ’just right’ is not for everyone. but, my ‘just right’ is pretty much bang on what we are daily told we should be expecting for the time of year. Fine & sunny, lovely. Warm, sure. Low to mid 20s C, super. I am pretty sure temperatures of +30° are unconstitutional.

Here is something seasonal, as well as being the warts and all bit (sorry if you thought that was covered in the above rant)! I think it also lacks the Goldilocks effect. A few days ago I made this card and I am not sure about it. Sometimes I think it is fine, and other times very much flawed. I love the image, and because I am somewhat challenged in the colouring department I opted for a bit of punchy selective paper piecing instead. Cunning, huh?! OK, not exactly Machiavellian but not Baldrick either. Then I though I would aim for a vintage look, but with sun-bleached seaside colours.

I found the bunting in a digikit and it was ok, but not enough. A further search for shells and I found these two in different kits, resized, re-coloured and then added them. Now, well, I just don’t know. Maybe if I had stamped the sunbather onto kraft card instead? Or just taken down the white a bit? Or used a smaller card base and moved the main image up to touch or overlap the bunting slightly? Or not put the poor sunbather in imminent danger of being overpowered by giant human-eating shells? Or maybe it is just a bit uninteresting?

Supplies: stamp from Crafty Individuals; everything else from Serif CraftArtist

 

Camper vans and ice cream

I’m on a roll. If willpower and wishing worked, Britain would be a tropical island. For now, lovely artwork images from Crafter’s Companion Halcyon Days will have to do. I might have a choc-ice lurking in the freezer somewhere. A girl can dream.

More from the same CD. I love the breezy colours of this image. I had to add the row of birds at the last minute to cover a smudge, but I love them. They are the seaside equivalent of using a butterfly to cover a blunder.

Spot the attempt at some ‘nautical looking’ knotting!