ArtyFartyAnnie

Oh we do like to be beside the sea! Yes we do like to stroll along the prom prom prom Where the brass band plays - tiddly-om-pom-pom! So just let me be beside the seaside And I'll be beside meself with glee ... The words of this lovely old music hall song were the inspiration for this fun page about my little cousins enjoying a day by the sea with their Granny ... I used this brilliant December Sketch by Liz Chichester for  My Creative Sketches  - Most of the goodies came from my Funky Farm  kit and I added a few bits from my stash ...

Hi everyone, Whatever you are doing this week, I hope you are enjoying a few days of fun and relaxation :o)xxx It's What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday #238 , although it will probably be a quiet week over at Julia's Stamping Ground , because most people's workdesks, like mine, won't be seeing much action - but here is my creative space this week, just for the record! My son has come home for Christmas (wooHOO), therefore my workroom is currently serving its other function as a spare room - but luckily I thought ahead and packed up some portable projects. Here you can see a pack of beautiful hand-drawn designs by Catherine Scanlon, which came in a Frog Dog kit, along with the gorgeous set of shimmering watercolour paints - can't wait to have a go with these! We've had a lovely Christmas so far - Tom took this pic of John and Yours Truly, looking very fetching in my new Christmas Onesie! It was a beautiful crisp, cold day full of sunshine and c...

The theme over at Tag Tuesday this week is Starry Starry Night and I was intending to create a beautiful peaceful winter nightscape, but somehow my tag went off in a different direction (as they often do) - here's how it turned out ... This was really easy to do - the gorgeously romantic image is from an ArtChix ephemera sheet which came in a FrogDog kit. I just adhered it to a piece of card for stability, sanded the edges, trimmed with scraps of ribbon and lace, added a spray of paper roses and finished with some sticky gems. Only trouble is that I now have Don McLean running through my head .... Happy Christmas one and all! :o)xxx

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, You are the tree most loved! How often you give us delight Inbrightly shining Christmas light! O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, You are the tree most loved! Hi Everyone! Case File #103 over at CSI this week is full of traditional Christmas colours and imagery.  Here it is (click on the image to enlarge it so that you can read the clues) ... Each week, CSI Mastermind Debbi Tehrani finds us a new Scene to investigate. From this image, she takes five colours for the Scheme and inspiration for design elements and journaling prompts. CSI = Color, Stories, Inspiration In order to solve the case, you just have to follow all these clues to create a scrapbook page ...

Hi everyone! Last Saturday we had a lovely day at KHC - cuttin, stickin, eatin, drinkin, chattin ... you get the idea! What a perfect day - thanks girls!  :o) L-R: Kate, Rosie, Gill, Amanda, Karen There were ten of us for our Christmas Special and everyone brought along something different to do - so many gorgeous projects ... First of all, we all (even Kate who doesn't "do" papercrafting) had a go at a mini matchbook album - see previous post for a link to the tutorial by the lovely Jules at Paperhaus. Here's one of the little kits I made up, using some scrap cardstock and some of the freebie papers from the last two issues of Scrapbook Magazine (there was plenty for ten of us) ... The card and paper was all pre-scored at home, so all we needed on the day was scissors, stapler, sticky stuff , sparkles, stamps and ink ...

Every year I make my DH a special Christmas card - this year I thought I would make him a Christmas scrapbook page instead. It was really quick to do, because I knew exactly what I wanted to say and the design is very simple. Here it is (click on the image to enlarge it if you like) ... The page was inspired by the December Challenge over at the 1-2-3 Challenge blog This is a brilliant concept for a challenge - you are given a colour, a word and a technique and all you have to do is include all three on a scrapbook page. Here is the image for the December challenge * COLOUR = METALLICS  * WORD = JOY * TECHNIQUE = BOWS I started with one sheet of patterned paper - "Sugar Plum" from the Saint Nick collection by Fancy Pants.  The reverse is a pretty shade of pale greeny-blue which I've used for the background, but I first "gutted" it where I knew it wasn't going to show, then removed the piece I'd cut out, turned it over to show the s...

Hi Everyone! What's On YOUR Workdesk this fine Wednesday morning ONLY ONE WEEK AWAY FROM CHRISTMAS DAY!?!?!?! I haven't even written my cards or wrapped any presents yet .... but I still feel strangely calm ..... Here is my workdesk today (Blimey I really need to ask Father Christmas for a new cutting mat!) ... ... not a lot going on, but I'm gathering a few crafty bits and bobs together for some portable projects I can do over the next couple of weeks whilst I can't get into my workroom, because it will be full of big hairy son who is coming home for Christmas (wooHOO!) so my workdesk will be my lap or a corner of the dining table. You know how annoying it is when your iPod earphones get all tangled in your bag? Well there are loads of tutorials online for crocheting around the cable to stop this happening and they look really pretty as well, so I'm planning to have a go at that with these gorgeous embroidery silks my friend Kate gave me when she had a c...

Hi everyone, It's Case File #102 this week over at CSI - a challenging colour combination for me, but lots of fun design elemnts and journaling prompts and as it's the second Tuesday in the month, we also have a sketch from Emma Stafrace at Page Drafts. Here's the Case File (click on the image to enlarge it so you can read the clues) Each week, CSI Mastermind Debbi Tehrani finds a new Scene for us to investigate. From this image, she take sthe colours for the Scheme, inspiration for design elements and techniques and ideas for journaling prompts. CSI = Color, Stories, Inspiration. To solve the Case, all you need to do is to make a scrapbook page using the following clues: All 5 colours in the Scheme At least 2 items from the Evidence list At least 1 piece of Testimony The photos on this page show my eldest son Richard when he was 20 months old and his little brother Tom was about six months. I was going through a seriously life-consuming bout of OCD, ...

Hello me again! Whilst I was playing with my Snow Angels from LunaGirl , my DH was writing lots of Christmas cards. Before chucking the empty box in the recycling bin, he asked me (as he often does) if I could use it for anything ... ... well, guess what?! The box has been covered with some gorgeous patterned papers from the BoBunny "Believe" collection - I got these free with Scrapbook Magazine some time ago had been saving them for special, as you do. Then I just layered up one of the sweet little Snow Angels , added a cluster of flowers, berries and leaves and popped the acetate cover back in place before trimming with a scrap of ribbon. I'm not altogether happy with it, but it was fun and almost free! Right, now I really must stop cutting and sticking and do something useful ... Cheerio for now! :o)xxx

Hi everyone, Well, Christmas has really taken me by surprise this year - I haven't written a single card or bought any presents at all yet - but I have made some Christmas bunting to decorate the fireplace, so that's ok! Here it is ... It all started with some sweet Snow Angels from Luna Girl - what do you think the collective noun for Snow Angels would be? A "flock"? A "shiver"? In this case, maybe a "Download"!? I decided it would be a flurry :o) Here's what I started with ... I downloaded the angels from the LunaGirl Etsy shop and printed off several of each to play with. I dug out a couple of sheets of double-sided 12" x 12" paper - it doesn't have a name on and I can remember where I got it, but it has a lovely vintage style print in soft, faded shades of blue, green and pinky-red which matches the angels perfectly. The chipboard bunting came from Every Crafts A Pound - 5 in each bundle for guess how much?!...

Hey everyone! What a beautiful morning it is - it's cold, but the early fog is lifting to reveal a clear blue sky - and it's my day off, so I can spend a couple of hours on the pooter catching up and then the rest of the day play in my room ... bliss! Although as I haven't written a single Christmas card or bought any presents yet, I should maybe start panicking, but I feel strangely calm about it all for some reason ... hmmm. Has Christmas taken anyone else by surprise this year? So anyway - What's On Your Workdesk this fine Wednesday?! Here's mine ... What a mess - and believe me, this is the tidiest part of the room at the moment  (of course it's mainly because John's put his ab cruncher and a huge pile of presents for the grandchildren in there - not because I've totally trashed it obviously). Amongst the mess on my desk, you can see some Christmas bunting I've been making - I thought it would make a pretty garland to decorate the fire...

Hello Everyone, It's time to reveal Case File #101 over at CSI this week - a cool and stylish set of colours and clues for us to follow - a mixture of elegance and fun which I thought would be perfect for this wonderful photograph of my Grandpa and his brothers when they were little boys. Here's the Case File for your perusal (click on the image to enlarge it so you can read the clues) ... CSI Mastermind Debbi Tehrani has found another intriguing Scene for us to investigate. From this inspiration image, she takes the colours for the scheme as well as ideas for design elements, techniques and journaling prompts. CSI = Color, Stories, Inspiration. In order to solve the Case, you need to follow all these clues to create a scrapbook page - All five colours in the Scheme At least two items from the Evidence At least one item from the Testimony Here's how I did it (click on the image to enlarge it) ... I love this photo - although it was a very formal set...

Hi everyone, The theme over at Tag Tuesday this week is "Angels" and I've managed to finish two! Here's the first ... This one was made with a couple of images from Graphics Fairy , which I cut out and layered up. They were coloured with some of the gorgeous shimmery goodies from the November FrogDog kit - pearlescent watecolour paints, Sakura pens and Distress Glitter on her halo. You can't see it in this picture, but the paints give a beautiful shimmery irridescent effect when they catch the light. Here's the second one ... This sweet little ballerina was also from Graphics Fairy , and I gave her a pair of angel wings from a LunaGirl collage sheet. I used the pearlescent paints again to give her tutu and wings a soft glittery effect which looks really pretty in real life. When I was at primary school, it was always the blond little girls who were chosen to be Angels in the Nativity play - don't get me wrong, there's nothing wron...

Hi everyone, Well it's been absolutely AGES since I last joined in with What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday over at Julia's blog Stamping Ground   and I can't believe it's the 235th! Today is the day we get to show the world our workspaces and what we're making AND have a good snout around other people's workdesks, admire their creations and check out their stuff - it's fascinating and it's addictive! So, what's on my workdesk today? Body parts! hehehehe! Not real body parts, obviously, that would be TOO weird .... but whilst I was looking for a box for my sister's birthday present, I came across this one, containing the beginnings of a cloth doll I started about 7 years ago and had completely forgotten about - I really must have another crack at it ... Underneath the box was my messy desk at 7.30 this morning, where I was just quickly going to finish my tags for Tag Tuesday (only one day late, not 7 years!) The theme for t...

It's always lovely to give and recieve home-made gifts at Christmas - cookies, jam, bath bombs, lavender bags, fudge and all kinds of other goodies make really nice presents - but you need a pretty box to show them off and make them look special. When I saw last week's challenge over at LunaGirl  - "Retro Gals" - I was inspired to use some of these gorgeous vintage images to revamp some of the many little boxes which I've been hoarding in my workroom. So I gathered up a few bits and bobs ... On the left is a selection of boxes awaiting transformation, then there is an assortment of patterned papers and on the right a couple of lovely LunaGirl collage sheets. The first box was really quick and easy because it already had a nice striped pattern, so I just needed to cover the label, tart it up a bit and finish with a pretty bow. The same patterned paper was used to mount the image on the front, decorate the top and create a little tag, so it would all m...

Hey Everyone! It's a big week over at CSI - firstly, our 100th Case File was opened for investigation on Friday, then today is the Big Reveal of our third Special Case File for Scrap365 . CSI and Scrap365 are two of my favourite sources of inspiration, so to see a collaboration between the two is brilliant. Here is Case File S365-3 (click on the image to enlarge it so you can read the clues) CSI mastermind Debbi Tehrani has taken inspiration from this sweet image and used it to create a delicious confection of a Case File for us to investigate. All you need to do to solve the case is to follow these clues - Use all five colours in the Scheme (plus neutrals and up to 10% accent colour if you like) Use at least two items/techniques from the Evidence list Use at least one journaling prompt from the Testimony list As you will know if you're a regular visitor to this blog, I don't really "do" pastel palettes very well - although I love what other ...