ArtyFartyAnnie

Hello Bloggy Friends, What a bright and beautiful morning it is here in Norfolk UK, I hope you are having a happy day wherever you are in the world :o) I treated myself to a lovely long cotton summer dress a couple of weeks ago and, because I am a little vertically challenged at 5' 2", I had to take a good 5" off the bottom. The piece I cut off didn't go to waste, as I used it to fashion some straps (my strapless days are a dim and distant memory, I need sturdy upholstery these days!) - but I still ended up with some small scraps, which I was about to chuck in the bin, when inspiration struck me ... I remembered some YT vids I've been watching showing how to turn fabric scraps into beads. So, I sat in the garden with some glue and a barbecue stick, winding the scrap around to create beads and finishing some of them with bits of lace. Result - a necklace to match my new dress ... Some of the clever people on YT make much more elaborate ones than these, w...

Hi Everyone, Today is our wedding anniversary - it's SIX YEARS since John and I were married - how did THAT happen so quickly?! Instead of a card, I gave John this little house-shaped printer tray which I made at the Mattishall Mixed Media/Craft Group a couple of months ago, using a kit from Tando Creative ... The lovely Di Oliver from Tando supplied the basic printer tray kit, as well as a selection of chippie pieces, stamps and stencils, and various Decoart paints and media to choose from and play with. We each brought our own little treasures to add to our projects as well, so every single one was totally unique. I'm very happy with how mine turned out - I added lots of little love tokens and symbols and wrote a message on the back with a Posca paint pen. John was very pleased with it too :o) Thanks for popping in today, see you again soon !! Annie xxx

Hi Bloggy Friends, Hope you are having a happy weekend wherever you are in the world - it's sunshine and showers again here, but I'm hoping to do some more sorting in my garage today, perhaps discover some more forgotten treasures. My day started well, when the postman brought me a package from China (crafty goodies) and a little envelope from my kind friend Karen, who sent me these REALLY teeny people ... They must be 24th scale I think (I put a biro there to give an idea of their size) and I have no idea where Karen got them - maybe they're for architects's models or miniature railway scenes?? Anyway, all kinds of possibilities await them - my favourite idea at the moment is to create tiny worlds for them in unexpected places ... what would YOU do with them? Thanks for visiting today, see you again soon :o) Annie xxx

Hello Fellow Deskers and Bloggy Pals, It's Wednesday (well it will be by the time you read this) so it's time to show the world What's On Your Workdesk this week, by linking up over at Julia's Stamping Ground and then having a wander around lots of other creative spaces all over the world to see what everyone else has been up to. Here's mine this week - slightly more colourful than last week, when these were just empty packaging boxes and ribbon spools ... First I covered them in old book paper (from an algebra text book which used to belong to my husband when he was a schoolboy) ... Then I coloured them with Golden fluid acrylic paints - brilliant for this, as they're translucent and very pigmented - love those juicy colours!! Next week, I should be able to show you my finished Arty-FArty Trash Dolls! Meanwhile, I'll be popping over to Julia's to have a nosey at everyone else's workrooms - see you there :o) Annie xxx

Hi everyone, It's a funny old day here in the East of England - at the moment, it's stopped raining but it's still very damp and grey. Later on it's supposed to be "getting out" as they say around these parts - i.e. the sun is going to win through after all - in which case, I plan to finish sorting out the years of accumulated clobber in the garage, hopefully unearthing some long-lost treasures! :o) Here's a little gem of a photo which had been buried and recently resurfaced. Before you look, imagine this for a second ... you are 21, you've been in labour for three days, you feel sweaty and bedraggled, but you are totally in love with your perfect new baby boy ... your husband goes to take a photo of you and the baby and you say, "Wait! Does my hair look ok?" and he says, "You look fine!". It's the olden days, so you wait three weeks for the film to be developed, then eagerly open the envelope to see how the photographs tur...

Hello Lovely Deskers and Bloggy Friends, It's been AGES since I joined in with What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday (too much other stuff getting in the way) and I've missed snouting around other people's craft rooms and seeing what everyone else has been up to. If you would like to find out what I'm going on about and maybe show the world what's on your workdesk this week, just pop into to Julia's Stamping Ground - everyone's welcome :o) Here's my desk this morning, in readiness for a massive cutting and sticking session ... The plan is to turn these old boxes into gorgeous Art Dolls, by covering them with paper from my husband's old school algebra textbook, throwing some paint and stuff about, adding some vintage images off Tinternet and sprinkling with various bits and bobs which are currently cluttering up my craft room. I've also been making Really Tiny Things again, like these little vintage-style plates ... I just print...

Hi everyone, Crafty time has been a bit hit-and-miss recently, with so much other fun stuff going on :o) When I do have time to play, it's often difficult to decide which of my current obsessions I most want to work on - scrapping, miniatures, art journalling or any of the various other projects and UFOs I have on the go at the moment - so many ideas, so much stuff, so little time!! This week, the miniatures have been winning. I have a Christmas room box on the go for a friend, and I also made some 12th scale pot plants, inspired by the very lovely Annie Christenson from We Love Miniatures ... Annie is so clever, and generously shares templates and printables on her blog, as well as excellent tutorials on her YouTube channel . The arrangement in the picture above was made with paper, wire, paint, card, some string, tea leaves and some tiny sprigs from a dried flower spray. For this project, Annie photographed her own hosta plants to produce a printable sheet , includ...