Poe Brooch

I couldn't help myself and created another Poe project. Edgar wasn't going to be in this project at all... but sometimes my projects have a mind of their own and take off in their own direction.

The base of this brooch has been sitting around for over a year. I applied a metal butterfly from Graphic 45's staples to a Spellbinders® Media Mixáge Shields bezel (holy mouthful batman!) and the poor thing sat for an eternity. The other night, while waiting for the paint to dry on another project, I started fiddling and fussing with it again.

Inside the bezel are snippets from Graphic 45's Times Nouveau - Deluxe Collector's Edition. The portrait is from this Edgar Allan Poe Collage Sheet. The little locket at the bottom of this piece has what is believed to be the only photograph of Poe's wife, Virginia, and an anatomical illustration of a heart.

My original intention was to make something quite girly and pretty but it wasn't working. I've found it's much easier go along for the ride, to see where my work takes me, rather than fighting and forcing against it. More often than not the destination is quite nice... even if it does take a while to get there :)

A fairy tea party

I've been making an effort to make things for the enjoyment of it, rather than necessity. What could possibly be more enjoyable than a fairy garden tea party?

This piece is really quite sweet :) Those cute as a button Miniature Table & Chairs come from Alpha Stamps, as do the Paper Flowers.

 
I've used Botanical Tea to embellish my wooden spool, which was then wrapped some pretty embroidered organza and finished off with a bit of jute twine. A Candlestick Holder puts the whole scene on a little pedestal.

Knowing that fairies are particularly fond of elevenses and a hot afternoon cuppa, I think they would approve.

 

This piece is currently listed HERE

LAST CALL for Plum Pudding Market!

Just a bit of a shout out to any local artists and makers who might be interested...

I'm putting together a Christmas market at Casa-Dea Estates Winery on November 29th, 2014.

Space is very limited and the deadline to apply is tomorrow BUT if you're near enough and want to join in, please send in your info quick as can be.

Full details at plumpuddingmarket.blogspot.ca

A spooky little something with Petaloo

Autumn has arrived. The leaves are just starting to turn, the evenings are getting cooler, and while these things may turn the thoughts of many to sweaters and apple cider... my mind races with witches and pumpkins!

Halloween is a big deal in my household. I gladly jump at any opportunity to make something for that holiday. Any chance to add more Halloween to my decor! So I present this little piece of hanging Halloween.

The base of this little round shrine is a round cardboard lid. I've wrapped the exterior with some black Crochet Lace Trim then embellished with a combination of black Burlap Blossoms, Textured MiniBlossoms, MixedTextured Layers and lavender Botanica Blooms.

A spider ring crawling through the pretty blooms, and plastic toy bones, add a good dose of creepy. I've also added a vintage image and a spooky sentiment clipped from the pages of a terrible book. And aren't those little pumpkins amazing? They're actually seed pods!

 

Here's my supply list, but don't let it limit you! I think those black and purple blooms are just about the most perfect Halloween combination, but orange and white would also make for some spooktacular festive decor.

Crochet Lace Fancy Trim Black SKU: 1482-148Burlap Blossoms Black SKU: 1200-209
MixedTextured MiniBlossoms Black SKU: 1263-209
MixedTextured Layers Black SKU: 1257-209
Botanica Blooms Lav/Purple SKU: 1102-107
Cardboard lid
Black acrylic paint
Glitter and star sequins
Vintage 'witch' image
Pumpkin pods
Jute
Toy spider, fence and skeleton

Dear spooky ooky Poe

I woke up to this view. It's lovely. Quiet. Still. Magical. At the same time it's a little bit creepy and sort of spooky... but that's ok, creepy can be rather lovely too.

Take dear old Edgar. He's a creepy fellow, eerie tales and poems... at the same time, they tug at your heart and you can't help but like the fellow.

This month Alpha Stamps has been celebrating Poe with an entire kit filled with crafty goods in honor of the dear author and all things horror.

My contribution was this frilly and fussy homage Poe, including a nod to his raven and his tell tale heart ;)

Want to create your own Poe masterpiece? Hop over to Alpha Stamps and check out the Poe themed kit on offer. AND if you're really itching to get your creep on, they're having a sale on their entire Halloween section!

For small pests

Did you know that small vampires have the sharpest teeth? It's true! They may not suck you dry but they will definitely leave a mark and you'll feel quite groggy afterwards.

I've created three wee vampire hunting kits in tiny coffins. Suitable for either very small hunters of vamps or hunting very small blood suckers.

They each measure approximately 6" x 3.25" x 1.5" tall. Inside you will find a brass stamped bat, a mirror, mallet and three wooden stakes, cross, a vial marked 'Holy Water" and a tiny 'Holy Bible'.

Please note: I am totally behind and these are the only ones that will be available this year.

 Currently listed in the etsy shop:

Black lid / Purple interior

Orange lid / Orange interior

Green lid / Black interior

Sweet little things

I love little frames. Tiny spaces waiting to be filled with snips and scraps and small sentiments. I have quite the stash of them in my studio.

You'd think that their small size would mean a quick and easy project... and they can be... but more often than not, I pour over those little spaces just as long and laboriously as their larger cousins.

Here I've layered some sweet vintage images with fussy cut butterflies and flowers from Sweet Sentiments and Baby 2 Bride then added some nice words I've clipped from old books.

 

Two sweet little whimsical things to welcome fall magic.

Golden frame listed HERE

Silver frame listed HERE

Lace Tea Cottages with Tresors de Luxe

These super cute cottages were created using Movers & Shapers House and Window dies with Graphic 45's Botanical Tea collection. They've been decorated with all sorts of snips of Tresors de Luxe lace and embellishments.

I often work on small scale projects, because of this every scrap becomes precious. Just a few tiny snippets of lace here and there are all that is needed to gussy up these tiny tea shops, but they add a big impact.

Don't be afraid to deconstruct and combine laces! I often cut elements from  Tresors de Luxe laces and they hold up very well. If you are worried about those tiny snips fraying or unraveling, simply apply a bit of white glue to the cut edges to keep everything in place.

So be sure to save those little scraps, you never know when a tea sipping fairy will need some embellishment to her little cottage :)


Lace Trim in Ivory LA-107
Trim Pearl Beaded Alencon Trim LA-805
Lace Trim Venice Lace LA-137
Multi Colored Chiffon Flowers FL-181
Rustic Green Shabby Chic Flower Embellishment FL-099
Lace Trim Beaded  LA-005
Ivory Lace Trim with Multi Colored Sequins  LA-121
Movers & Shapers House and Window dies
Graphic 45's Botanical Tea collection including 6" Solids and Patterns Pad, Tags & Chipboard + more

Yarrr!

Ahoy matey! Tis the day I've been a-waitin' fer, International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Earlier this week I put out a challenge to all of the land lubbers out there to create something worthy of a sea faring buccaneer. The mighty Ms Kay showed that she is no scallywag and sent me pictures of this treasure...

Tis pretty enough to soothe the barnacles from a crusty poop deck.

 
It's never too late to jump into the craftin' crows nest, drink some rum and make a blasted mess so the PDF of piratey goodness is still available for download HERE.

Finally, for those beauties who requested a tutorial or template for the wee sailing vessels, hang on to your hornpipes and set your eyeballs on this moving picture show....

Typography Sky Pirate Zeppelin

I’ve been meaning to expand my fleet of amazing flying machines so and when I created the template for my Old School Rocket, I knew this project was in my future. 

The shape of the rocket body can easily double as a zeppelin. The addition of a paper boat, trims, chains, gears and propellers turns the rocket into a fabulous sky pirate vessel. 

The images and colours of Typography lend themselves perfectly to steampunk projects so it was a natural choice. The ‘rope’ used to attach the boat to the zeppelin is a sturdy gardening wire that has a natural jute covering. Hot glued firmly into place, these ‘ropes’ keep everything exactly where it should be without causing too much stress to the paper. 

Copper, brass and bronze accents are in keeping with the steampunk feel. A bit of metallic acrylic paint can transform chipboard with very little effort. Distress with an old ink pad and you can add years to those new ‘metal’ gears and cogs. 

I added a couple of small light bulbs which should be easily available (I got mine from the grocery store!) and a snip of tea stained cheesecloth to the inside of the boat. Finally I glued an eye pin in the top so that my little vessel can hang proudly and fight off any lightning thieves.

Supplies

Typography
> Inspire

> Journey

Ornate Metal Label Holder

Stamped Metal Brads

Ornate Metal Keys

Copper Chain

Copper acrylic paint

Gina’s Design Chipboard Propeller, Gears and wings

Copper Zig Zag Dresden Border

Half-Round Dresden Border

Brass Eye Pin

Small light bulbs

Gardening wire

cheesecloth

lightbulbs

thumbtack

 

Psst... jump over to the Graphic 45 blog and check out the gorgeous boat posted by Miranda Edney.

A Small Shrine for Saint Expeditus

I have many, many, many half-finished projects all over the place. Sometimes an idea will pop into my head, I'll prep the base work for it... then become thoroughly distracted by something shiny in the corner.

If I really want to finish a project, I will leave it in plain view, poking and prodding me until I pick it up and complete it. This project, a little shrine to Saint Expeditus (who is always saving my bottom just in the nick of time) sat for a few months before finally completing it.

Inside there are offerings of beer and cake in tiny vials, a scroll of thanks and a four leaf clover. The exterior is a jumble of old and new, bits and bobs from here and there.

And finally hand held for size reference.

A little gift for auntie K

My auntie very recently threw herself a birthday shin-dig to celebrate her 60th birthday. I couldn't make it to the party (insert sad face) but I sent along a little present.

The inspiration for this project totally came from EasilyAmused's awesome Tiny Photo Album project on Craftster. I ran with the idea of a miniature photo album and created a tiny book filled with familiar things and memories for my auntie.

The book is handmade. Small but mighty.

I included family photos shrunk down to miniature scale and added embellishments like pressed Baby's Breath, words and bits of ribbon and lace.

Also included are shrunken images relating to her life. Her childhood church, maps and vintage postcards of the places she has lived. There's tiny recipes for Yorkshire Pudding, a little library index card for a Jane Austen book and other papery bits to fill out the contents.

I'm sorry I missed giving it to her myself, but I did hear that she liked this little book of memories.

Arrr! An important scallywag of a notice

Friday is International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

It's short notice but I'm sending out a challenge for you to get your peg-leg on and create something piratey.

To get you started I've created this free collage sheet for you to use. You can download the full resolution PDF file HERE **You DO NOT have to use the sheet to participate!**

Send a pic of your pirate project (and link to your site/page) and I'll feature them on my blog, and post them on my Facebook page on Friday.

IMPORTANT: email your submissions to [email protected] by Thursday.

Be bright

I created this set of collages for an anti-bullying challenge on fb. They are gentle reminders to be kind to one another... and to ourselves.

It saddens me that bullying is an issue in a 'grown-up' setting. Children act out, perhaps unable to fully comprehend that their actions, their words, have an impact on those around them...

... but as grown ups we should be empathetic toward others (even to those we only encounter through a screen). We should strive to be kind, to be understanding, to lift up those who feel low.

 
And while there may be some rotten apples, people who thrive like a virus on drama and hurt feelings, there are far more sweet ones and tender souls. We're all just doing our best, each one of us.

Be kind. Be warm. Your thoughtfulness may be the bright spot in someone else's darkness.

Be good to yourselves too and don't let others dim your light.