ArtyFartyAnnie

 I've been practising some negative painting with watercolours, ready to do a live paint-along on my YT channel on 6th February at 2pm UK time (eelebrating 500 subscribers wooHOO!!) ... This is SO simple to do, it's really relaxing but the results are really satisfying. As the plan is to do not one but THREE watercolour paintings in one live session, I needed to keep it simple! I'm so excited and flattered that over 500 people have taken the time and trouble to subscribe to my channel and watch some of my videos, I really wanted to celebrate and say thank you and I'm hoping at least one or two might pop on to say hello and maybe paint along with me.  As a little thankyou gift, I've also done a couple of free printable colouring sheets - click here to download - I'll be turning them in to watercolour paintings on the day, but they could be coloured with any pens, markers or paints and it would be fun to see people put their own spin on them :) More info on my YT ...

 I'm really enjoying the new Wreck this Journal technicolour version - this page started off bright yellow and the prompt was "resist", draw with wax crayon and paint over. Here's how mine turned out, eventually, after a few twists and turns ... I started with a resist technique, using Caran d'Ache Neocolor I and Neocolor II crayons, but ended up going back in with several layers of crayon and paint and finishing with a coat of clear gesso so that I could add details with cooured pencils.  The best thing about working in these books is that you just can't get precious about it, so they encourage you to experiment and play like a kid - which I definitely did with this one :) If you would like to watch the process, click here to go to my YT channel. Thanks for visiting me today, see you again soon!  Annie xo

 Lino printing is definitely going to become one of my new favourite hobbies - I have a lot to learn, but I'm loving every part of the process. After getting a basic kit in my first Artful subscription box, I've splashed out on proper inking tray as I didn't get on with the sheet of acetate supplied. I also bought a huge sheet of a different type of lino and a tube of gold printing ink. I think I will want some white, yellow and blue as well, but I plan to stock up on those gradually.  Here's the latest attempt, aiming at an illustration for that old, dark tale "The Red Shoes" ... It's a WIP - you can see I've scribbled notes where I need to improve when I re-carve the lino next time. I added the red shoes by painting in with acrylic ink and a brush.  It feels a bit wasteful to carve the same scene again, but I think it will be a useful learning process ... The tricky part is learning to think back-to-front - you carve out the bits you don't want t...

 For the third pennant in my Boho Bunting, I decided to finish with a funky tassel, made from the scraps in my "orts" jar ... Here's how it looks alongside the first two ... I followed a basic recipe for each of these pennants - if you'd like to see how they came together, check out the Boho Bunting playlist on my YouTube channel .  Thanks for popping in today, see you again soon.  Annie xo

When I signed up for an Artful subscription box in December, I got to choose my first box from previous months (after that, each box will be a complete surprise) and I went for the lino-cutting box, because it was something I'd never tried but always wanted to. Fully prepared for my first attempt to be a bit disappointing and determined not to let that put me off, I waded in regardless, and in fact I was delighted with how it turned out ... It needs work and I have a lot of practising to do, but for my first try, I was well chuffed and can't wait to do more. The Artful box included black and red inks, so I might add more colours later. I've also been and bought an inking tray, because I struggled to use the sheet of acetate provided in the kit. The design was inspired by quince and is intended to become a valentine card for my DH. Quinces are an ancient symbol of love and they have a special significance for us because we had a quince bush in our first garden and I used to ...

 It's bright and sunny but freezing cold here in this neck of the woods - luckily I just finished my latest crocheted blanket and it's perfect for snuggling on the sofa ... I used the free patterns for the Sirdar Winter Berries Crochet Along - they have loads of free patterns and excellent YT tutorials to back them up. I put my own spin on this one by using different colours as I had some wool I wanted to use up, but otherwise I followed the pattern. I loved the mixture of different stitches and even learned a couple of new ones. The only bit I didn't enjoy so much was weaving all those ends in :) Thanks for popping in today, see you again soon,  Annie xo

 Loving this new slow-stitching project, inspired by the gorgeous reclaimed fabrics I got from Bazaar. Here's the second pennant all done and ready to hang ... The embroidery on the left is all simple straight stitches, chains and lazy daisies, just following the pattern that was already printed on to the silk. On the right side, it was french knots and tiny fat cross stitches. The strip up the middle was a piece of sari ribbon and the spiral motif was in one of the Bazaar scrap bags, I just embellished it with more running stitch and couching, using different weights of thread for variety. The finishing touch was to add some tiny brass beads around the bottom edge - they also came in one of the scrap bags. The plan is to make one pennant each week and I've come up with a Basic Recipe to get me started - to watch my process, click here to check out my YouTube channel . Next week I'm thinking it's time for a triangular pennant and maybe a home-made tassel. Thanks for sto...

Inspired by the gorgeous Scrap Bags from Bazaar, I've decided that my new slow-stitching project is going to be Boho Bunting. I plan to make one pennant a week for around three months (or maybe longer if I'm really enjoying myself) and then I can hang it in my craft room.  To make things easier on myself, I've come up with a basic "recipe", with five pennant shapes, five applique shapes and five easy steps - just to give me a starting point for each piece. Here is the first one I made last week ... Everything I need fits into a small bag, so it's a very simple and portable project - and very relaxing to do while I sit and binge-watch something or listen to an audio book.  If you would like to watch my process, here's a link to the Boho Bunting playlist on my YouTube channel. Thanks for popping in to see me today, see you again soon.  Annie xo

 Just finished another page in Create This Book, the prompt for this one was "Create a page of garbage", so I decided to see what I could do with the contents of my craft room rubbish bins - luckily, I'd been eating a few sweeties in there over the festive period ... I started by creating a background with water-soluble crayons, then cut out a whole load of butterfly shapes from the paper scraps. Fortunately, they all stuck to the background with a glue stick, then I added some colour and scribbly outlines and details. Struggled a bit to find pens which would work on the slightly waxy background and the shiny surface of some of the butterflies, but good old Posca paint pens saved the day in the end.  To me, butterflies area symbol of transformation and transition, so this represents the idea of turning trash into treasure instead of chucking it into landfill.  If you would like to watch my process, click here for the You Tube video. Thanks for visiting me today, see you ...

 I love this thoughtful gift my son Tom brought over for me yesterday, because he knows I want to start eating healthily again and I'd mentioned that workday lunches can be tricky ... It's a bento box, with two separate layers and the elasticated band around it to keep everything secure. As well as the cute dinky cutlery on the top, there's a pair of chopsticks and a spoon inside ... Here's the bottom layer, filled with Summer Rolls, Sesame Egg Rolls, pickled ginger, fresh and pickled cucumber and sugar snap peas, with a dipping sauce alongside ... And here's the top layer, with a selection of fresh fruit ... Somehow, it all looks so much more inviting when it's prepared and set out nicely doesn't it? And believe it or not, there are only a couple of WW points in all of this :) Should help to get my healthy new year off to a flying start, thanks Tom! Annie xo

 Hello Bloggy Peeps and Deskers everywhere,  Looooooooooonnnngggg time no see - after not blogging at all for over six months, I've decided to dust the old girl off and start afresh for 2022, so here I am, how have you been, what have I missed?! One of the many reasons that blogging fell by the wayside was that I now have a little part-time job - working in a shop which sells arts and crafts supplies, where all my colleagues are lovely fellow crafters, all the customers are in their happy place and it's actually part of my job to have a nosey at their projects and help them choose what to buy. So, in a nutshell, it's  dream job and well worth coming out of retirement for :) However, it does mean that I'm not going to be here to post this tomorrow morning, so I'm scheduling it now and will pop over to see Julia at Stamping Ground later to link up and catch-up with everybody.  Here's my desk as it looks this evening, after a busy and happy day spent with my gran...

 I've only relatively recently discovered "slow-stitching" - well, I've always loved slow stitching, but didn't know that it is a concept with a name and a whole community built up around it. One of the first sources of inspiration I found on You Tube was Anne Brooke Textile Artist, who started a project called "Sew4theSoul" during the first lockdown. This has blossomed and grown and she now has a massive following - well-deserved, as she's a talented artist and great teacher and I love her quiet, down-to-earth style of YT videos. My first project was the Sew4theSoul Book, which was actually Anne's second series of videos. Here's how it turned out ... There's a flip-through on YT if you would like a closer look. After that, I was hooked, so I went back to Anne's first series, where she made a long piece a bit like a "snippet roll", which was wound on to a wooden bobbin. I went for a rainbow theme for mine ... If you'd l...

 Hello and welcome to my craft room :) It's been a while (almost six months in fact) since I posted anything on here. I love blogging as a way to record my arty-farty adventures and share them with anyone who's interested, but for a while there life got in the way and my little blog was pushed to the side because I just didn't have the time for everything I wanted to do.  Now that things have settled a bit, a new year has just begun and my head is bursting with arty-farty ideas - I think it's time to dust off the old blog and make a fresh start, recording my creative endeavours from the very beginning of 2022. So, here we go ... Saturday 1st January 2022 Had a go at the December Scrawlr Challenge - "Out of the Darkness" . The supplies for this month included three metallic Spectrum Noir paint markers, a matt black Posca paint pen, a pink Moonlight Gelly Roll, a Derwent sketching pencil and a pad of square black card tiles by Art Gecko. To meet the challenge yo...