ArtyFartyAnnie

Hi everyone, Well, this must be the most activity my blog has seen in ages - it really has been a very productive day. I made a few cards with my new "Georgie" stamp set today and took some photos as I went along, so that I could show you how they came together. This will be a looooooooooong post, so this is your chance to choose whether to "Read more ..." or escape now ....

Hi everyone, It's been a very productive day at my temporary workdesk (AKA the dining room table). I've been trying out a few ideas with my new "Georgie" stamp set - I made some cards and tags and enjoyed playing with different colouring-in techniques, then I thought it would be fun to have a go at a festive art doll to hang on the wall for Christmas and I'm really happy with how she turned out ... In fact, I enjoyed this little project so much that I may do a few more. They would make a cool alternative to a Christmas card wouldn't they? With my son's help, I managed to make a coordinating deep-fill envelope ... I'll be posting a tutorial for this project soon, so watch out for that if you would like to make one of your own. "Georgie" stamp sets are available in my Etsy Shop .

Hi Everyone, Today I've had a lovely time playing with the "Georgie" stamp set and my box of paper scraps. First, I made three cards with matching gift tags ... It was fun colouring in with Distress Inks and blendable coloured pencils and trying out different looks ... Then I realised I would have to work out how to make coordinating envelopes - luckily my son was here to help me with the maths ... The daisy from the stamp set made a perfect repeating motif for some home made gift wrap ... ... I just stamped it onto white copy paper and coloured the centres with pencil - easy peasy!! Photo tutorials will be appearing shortly if you would like to see how I made these cards - check the next couple of posts or click on the "tutorials" tab at the top of the page. If you would like your own "Georgie" Mix It Up stamp set, please visit my Etsy Shop . Thanks for popping in today, see you again soon. Annie :o) xxx

Hi Everyone, One of my favourite warming winter comfort dishes is cauliflower cheese, but it's even more delicious made with "Romanesco" broccoli, because it's crisper and has a more delicate, nutty kind of flavour. It's also SO amazing to look at - look at this locally-grown beauty ... I find its fractal form fascinating - according to this article on Wikipedia, the number of spirals on a head of a Romanesco is a Fibonacci number. Almost too beautiful to eat .... but not quite :o) Fractals and cheese OMNOMNOMNOM!!! Thanks for popping in today, see you again soon Annie xxx

Hi Everyone, Imagine how excited I was to find a package from the lovely Lizzy Hill in Australia waiting for me when I came home yesterday - and when I opened it up I was just blown away!! Lizzy had a giveaway on her blog a few weeks back, and I was lucky enough to win one of the packs of goodies. Just look at this pile of gorgeousness ... I would say I was "chuffed to bits" but last time I used that expression on here, it caused some consternation and confusion amongst my non-UK friends who suggested I should go to the chemist  and buy some cream for it hehehehehe :o) Anyway, as if that wasn't fabulous enough, Lizzy also sent one of her beautiful cards - I always love Lizzy's cards so it is wonderful to have one of my own ... Check out Lizzy's blog if you haven't already - it's bursting with ideas and fun and Lizzy's distinctive style - and you'll always find something there to give you a kick up the mojo if you need it!  Than...

Hi Everyone, It's Wednesday AGAIN! Yes it really is!!! So time to gather together over at Julia's Stamping Ground and show each other what we've been up to this week. If you fancy joining us, pop over there to check out creative spaces all over the world and why not show us What's On Your Workdesk this Wednesday?? My usual workdesk is out of action at the moment whilst my craft room is living its other life as guest bedroom, so I've set up camp on the dining room table this week. I thought it would be a good time to finally complete my tag books ... The idea is to store all the tags I make in here, along with notes about how each one was made, so that instead of loitering in a drawer they will be a handy source of reference when I need inspiration - if you would like to see how I made them, there's a photo tutorial on this post . Behind the tag books you can also see a little pile of craft mags I've been waiting to read and to the right a glimpse...

Hi everyone, It's not often I'm lost for words, but I really couldn't come up with anything to add to my tags for Tag Tuesday this week - if you have any ideas for suitable sayings, clever quotes or pearls of wisdom that would be fab - please leave your suggestions in the comments box below! The theme for this week was "Skylines" - I couldn't choose between moonlight or sunset, so I did both ... I only had half an hour to play in my room whilst dinner was cooking, so these had to be really fast and simple - I created the backgrounds with Distress Inks straight onto white card, freehand cut the silhouette of the buildings once and then drew around it to get a duplicate, cut the birds out of the scraps, made a double mask for the moon from a sticky note, flicked some white mist about for stars and added highlights and windows with an acrylic paint marker. Just need those perfect words now ... hmmmm .... I often turn to songs when I'm stuck - ...

Hi everyone, On Sunday I spent a very happy couple of hours getting messy in my workroom, creating my FIRST EVER mixed media canvas - not only did I have a lovely time, but I'm really pleased with the results, for my first time anyway! Here's a picture of my finished project (had to take this out on the lawn as the light is not great today) ... I used my new "Georgie" Mix It Up stamp set of course, plus lots of ideas and inspiration from some wonderful mixed media experts who generously share their techniques and inspiration on You Tube. Here are a few of my favourites - these ladies often keep me company in my workroom, though not IRL of course :o) They all have very different artistic and presenting styles and they've all inspired me in different ways - I have lost many hours in YouTubia watching these people! Christy Tomlinson - wonderful bright fun canvases, truly inspiring France Papillon - gorgeous artsy Journal On Monday series Vicky Papai...

Hi Everyone, It's What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday, so it's time to say "Hi"  to other Deskers all over the world and see what we've all been up to this week. Pop over to Julia's Stamping Ground to link up, join in or just have a nosey - no pressure, it's totally up to you! Here's my disgracefully messy desk this week ... ... and what you can't see in this picture is that actually the mess extends to all available surfaces to either side and behind me, including the floor which is always handy as extra desk space! Still, I did spend a really happy few hours on Sunday afternoon creating all this mess, and out of the chaos you see here came my very first attempt at a mixed media canvas. I'll be posting that later, when it's light enough to take a decent photo. In the meantime, I'm off to see what everyone else has been up to - and then I had better go Tidy My Room as it's been like this since Sunday tsk tsk! Happy...

Hi everyone, Today I am VERY excited because at last I can share with you a project I've been working on for quite a while - in fact, I'm SO excited that I want to run about squealing like a piglet wooHOO wooHOO!!! So, without further ado, please allow me to introduce "Georgie" - my brand new stamp set ... Georgie is the first in a series of Arty Farty Annie "Mix It Up" stamp sets - so called because in each set, the central character is made up of separate components, which are designed to be put together to create different poses and gestures. They can also be combined with components from other sets in the series to give endless creative possibilities. As well as the whimsical character which is the main focus of the stamp set, I've squeezed lots of fun images into every spare inch of space! I wanted to make these stamps as useful and versatile as possible, so I've included design elements and motifs which will lend themselves to all...

Hi everyone, It's Wednesday, so it's time to show the world What's On Your Workdesk this week - pop over to Julia's Stamping Ground to check out workdesks from all corners of the globe (what a strange expression that is - surely a globe can't have corners?!) and link up to show everyone what you've been up to. Not a lot happening on my desk that I can show just yet ... hopefully by tomorrow all will be revealed so watch this space :o) In the meantime, here's a little hint ... ... on the left, a very bright daylight bulb and roughly in the middle my new video camera which is pointing at my Big Secret. I've been having all kinds of technical battles over the last few days, but hopefully I've nearly cracked it! You can also see a very badly organised cubbyhole with my mists and stuff in the front and some drawers behind which are so difficult to get to that I can't even remember what's in them! Really need to have a sort out ... on...

Hi everyone, The theme over at Tag Tuesday this week is Fright Night - I had all kinds of spooky ideas but they all stubbornly refused to come out looking anything like they had looked in my head - do you ever get that?? Anyway, I really wanted to post my tag in time for Halloween so I had another go last night - ended up splattering Mr Huey "blood" all over the carpet (ooops!) and still wasn't happy with the results ... ... so this morning I've had another go, inspired by all the Trick or Treat goodies on sale in the shops at the moment. These little "printies" are from Chocolate Rabbit Graphics . They're 12th scale, so they would be great for a dolls' house or miniature shop, but I thought they would work well on a tag too. Many years ago, I worked part time in my friend Maggie's joke shop. It was tiny, but stuffed to the gills with marvellous things. Hallowe'en was a very busy time for us - it was exhausting but huge fun a...