Wednesday 26 August 2009

Family Stuff

I've been a bit busy these past few days with family stuff; My sister wanted me to make some Pin Up Birthday cards for her, so here are a couple examples of the finished cards... she's big into pink and marilyn monroe/pin up styles so these were right up her street!


I then had a few days away staying at the Parents In Law's and we did lots of family stuff, including, taking my Mum and Dad to a London Follies Show for my Mum's Birthday; Celebrating my Mother In Laws Birthday the following day and then on the Monday taking the kids to Legoland, which they loved......

Above, Steve takes Ethan on this ride, which he queued for forty minutes to get on, but he had a great time whizzing round and getting wet!

Steve then took Cameron on the above ride, (Cameron to the right of Steve), Cameron was so giggly as the ride shot up and down, it's the first time the boys have been on more exciting rides as they are now four and are able to go on more due to their age and height.

Here I am taking them on a more sedate ride.... I'm really not one for thrill seeking rides, although they did manage to get me on the Log Flume which I hated!! LOL!!

But we're now back home and catching up with the washing and mounds of ironing YUK! Hope to get some craft time later this week though, so keep tuned!!

Tuesday 18 August 2009

More Lady Tags

Well I'm still in tag mode, here are some more examples of my "Vintage Lady Tags". This time I have chosen not to coffee stain the tags, I love the simplicity of these ones, they still have a wonderful vintage look and feel about them without being too over the top.


The images used have been taken from my collection of vintage fashion illustrations (CD of these images and many more will be available to purchase from my shop very soon!!).

Some of these tag designs will be used for my donations to the "Handmade for Haiti" Charity Event I am organising at my local Oxfam. If you missed the details on this event please see my earlier post, as you too can donate a handmade item to help raise money for this worthy cause.

My new Lady Tags will be available through my website shop very soon, so keep your eyes peeled for future annoucements.

Friday 14 August 2009

Altered Luggage Labels - My Vintage Lady Tags

A few posts ago I showed you some plain luggage labels that I had stained with coffee (smelly, messy job, but well worth the results!). Well here are the finished pieces. They are going to be a new range of simple gift tags that I will be offereing for sale in my website shop.

I have a vast collection of vintage illustrations of ladieswear from the early 1900's, so I thought I would use some of these images in my new tag line.

I am also in the process of putting together another image CD which will contain hundreds of these vintage fashion illustrations for use in your own art projects. The CD will be available shortly from my shop, but don't worry, as soon as it is ready for launch I will be showcasing it here on my blog, so keep your eyes peeled!


Tuesday 11 August 2009

Flapperology - I've Been Published!!

Ohhhh I'm so excited..... my wonderful friend and fabulous Artist, Lisa Kettell has published some of my work in her latest Zine; Flapperology. Her publications are so exciting and have fantastic stories and lots of eye candy. In this Zine you will find: Free Collage Images; Ziegfeld Follies Costumes; Sugar Cookie Doll Flappers; Gossamer Tea Rooms Flappers; Vintage Jewels, My Maygreen Fairies Flappers; A Flapper Doll Bottle Project; Vintage Crepe Paper Project; Free Fashion Plate (Art Deco), plus much more!!
You can purchase this Zine, plus others that Lisa produces, at her Moonfaires Shop on Etsy.

Lisa is an amazing artist and I have been lucky enough to have my art published in two more of her creations; The Piddlestix Zine which is also available through the Moonfaires Shop and also the fantastic Altered Art Circus Book available through Amazon. Please check them out if you get the chance!

Sunday 9 August 2009

Decorative Journals

I made these little decorative journals a while ago and they were very well received at craft fayres, so I need to get cracking with some new designs ready for Christmas! I know... CHRISTMAS! you say... but come August I always start creating my Christmas Stock, it's the start of a busy time for me.
I do love my little journals, I like to use them myself to hold some of my ATC's, I place one of them on the Guest Room bedside table for friends and family to flick through when they stay over. It's also a nice way of displaying some of my ATC's that I create for myself.

The Journals can also be used as little notebooks or jotters, they each have smooth cream paper pages inside for note taking.

Each one is covered in fabric and accented with a vintage image and vintage accessories. They are then finished off with sumptuous trimming.

As I make my new journal designs I will showcase them here, so watch this space!!

Monday 3 August 2009

Handmade Charity Event - Donations Needed PLEASE!!!

My dear fellow bloggers, I need to ask for your assistance in a Charity Event I am involved in with my local Oxfam Shop, we desperately need donations of handmade items to successfully run this event! Interested in making something for us?? Then please read on.... As some of you may be aware, I volunteer part time for Oxfam at the High Street Shop local to my home. I am involved in sorting and preparing donations for sale in the shop, dressing the shop window, serving customers and generally assisting the Shop Manager to run the shop efficiently.


At a recent Managers Meeting the Oxfam staff were set a task of creating their own way of raising money for the island of Haiti, other than using shop donations! This special fund raising event is to take place during the month of October 2009. Some shop Managers decided to hold coffee mornings, others sponsored walks, but our Manager, Debbie, thought that as we had some talented, creative ladies both working in the shop and the surrounding area, we should hold a "Handmade" sale alongside our usual goods during the month of October and all the proceeds from the handmade goods would go specifically to the Haiti appeal.

At the start of the month we are planning to dress the Oxfam window full of donated handmade items and as they sell and we reduce the stock, a smaller area of the window will be designated to the items until the month ends.

All of the money raised from these special events will go to the Haiti Disaster Prevention Project, which involves training and upgrading the emergency shelters to help Haitians cope with the devastating storms and hurricanes which are hitting their island nation more and more often. The total cost of the project is £150,000, some money has already been donated, so the goal is now £112,000, which equates to about £160.00 per Oxfam shop.

This is where I need the help of my wonderfully creative friends and bloggers out there... To help us keep our Oxfam Shop Window stocked with handmade goods for the month of October I am asking if any of you would like to make / donate a piece or two for this cause. The type of items we are seeking MUST be handmade; cards, bookmarks, cushions, bags, jewellery, pottery, dolls etc... Your item will be displayed and offered for sale at the Heathfield Oxfam Shop, either in the window or on the shop counter display. If you have a website or blog please label your item with this so we can advertise your site on our posters for the event. I will also be blogging about this in October with photos of the window display and shop, and I will display a list of all who have donated with links to your sites, this list will stay on my blog for the month of October.

If you would like to participate please leave a comment below confirming you wish to be involved along with your email address so that I can send you my address details for postage purposes. All donations must reach me in the UK no later than 25th September 2009. If you have any questions about this Charity Event please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you so much for your help, it is so greatly appreciated!