ArtyFartyAnnie

Hi everyone, Do you ever find yourself away from home, pining for your workroom and itching for a bit of crafty action? Well, during my last trip to London, my son Tom and I put our heads together and came up with the perfect solution ... Pound Shop Projects! Guest Designer Tom with Yours Truly Even if you're stuck in a dreary hotel room and you have no crafty kit with you at all, there will nearly always be a Pound Shop [Dollar Store] nearby where you can get everything you need to while away a few hours and make something fun. Meet Flossie, the result of our first collaboration, made entirely with a pair of socks and a few other bits and bobs which all came from a Pound Shop - even the tools we used to put her together. We cannot take credit for the design - we followed this brilliant YT video by Maqaroon  - although ours turned out a bit differently of course ... Flossie our cute sock kitty We both love browsing Pound Shops and there are several along Walthamsto...

Hi everyone, It's been a funny old day - started grey and dreary, now it's all blue skies and bluster - and somehow several hours have gone by and I have hardly done anything at all. How does that happen?! Anyway, I've just remembered it's Wednesday and I'm going to be late to the party - join us over at Julia's Stamping Ground to see what everyone's been up to this week and show the world What's On Your Workdesk! Here's mine today - actually tidy from my Big Sort Out last week ... I've been working on a little project for St. Valentine's Day which you can see emerging there on the work surface. On the top shelf are my newly organised tag books and art journals in progress, and I've also started to sort all my stamps and stencils into file folders - eventually I will get around to giving them a bit of a makeover, they look a bit too "office" at the moment! At the back of the desk next to the "tape tree" (mu...

Hi everyone, There hasn't been much time, space or energy for scrapping in my world just lately, but I just couldn't resist Major Case File #151 over at CSI (Color, Stories, Inspiration) - so many fun elements to play with, a brilliant sketch from Em Stafrace from The Nifty Pixel , and the colour combination was perfect for one of our wedding photos. Here's the Case File ... ... and here's how I solved the Case ... But did I follow all the clues ...... ?????

HI everyone, I've promised myself that this year I will try to keep up with the Tim Holtz Tags of 2015 . Tim is always full of new ideas and inspiration - even though I usually don't have all the materials he's used, it's fun to improvise and I always end up trying something new or digging out something I've had sitting in my workroom for ages. Here's my January tag - somehow it turned out much darker and grungier than Tim's, maybe I was in a dark and grungy mood ... There were quite a few items on Tim's list this time which I didn't have (yet!) but I did the best I could to achieve a similar look with the supplies I do have. For example, Tim used Tissue Wrap Postale to create the crinkled background. I didn't have any, so made some for myself by stamping with Archival Ink onto plain tissue ... ... then went on to almost completely cover it up of course, but I love the effect and it's an idea I will use again for sure. I also ...

HI everyone, I've just realised it's Wednesday - and Wedesday isn't just another day, it's the day we gather over at Julia's Stamping Ground and see what everyone's been up to. Why not join us? Put the kettle on, pop over to Julia's, link up and show the world What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday! Not much doing on mine today, there has been altogether too much Life getting in the way! But I have discovered that when time, space and energy are in short supply, a bit of doodling has a very calming effect on my cluttered head ... ... it's very strange how "tangling" on paper seems to de-tangle my mind, something about the repetition and the way it doesn't have to "be" anything. To find out all about Zentangle, a really good starting point is a visit to Tangle Patterns - it's brilliant and addictive but in a good way! Thanks for visiting my blog today. I'm off to see what everyone is up this week - see you at Juli...

Hi everyone, Today would have been my lovely Mum's 78th birthday. Sadly, she died a few days after her birthday back in 2009, but still I think about her and miss her every day. She was such a creative soul and always trying something new - she would have loved all the "artyfarty" stuff I'm doing now and the way we can share our crafty adventures with like-minded people all over the world. I just wish I could share them with her too. Here's a page I made years ago, showing Mum as a schoolgirl ... The girl you see here went on to live a full and colourful life. She had four children of her own and went through many difficult times, but I feel there was a part of her that never quite grew up and the girl you see here was still inside her until the day she died. Here's a page I made featuring Mum as a teenager with her elder sister - I love their pretty dresses and hats, and those tiny waists ...  Do you ever get that thing where you catch a flee...

Hi everyone, The theme over at Tag Tuesday last week was "Diva". Straightaway I thought of Maria Callas - beautiful, talented, dramatic, unique - total Diva. This lovely lady can make grown men cry with her voice (my own DH is not ashamed to admit this). Here's a YT clip from 1958 showing Ms Callas singing the "Casta Diva" aria from Bellini's opera "Norma" - even if you're not an opera fan, you cannot fail to be moved by it ... she portrays so much passion and emotion before she even opens her mouth to sing and she is every inch the Diva. My drawing skills are sadly not up to capturing this beautiful lady's likeness, but she was definitely my muse for this tag ... My Diva was sketched in pencil, then coloured in with Kaiser Fusion Pens - I added a little corsage (probably a gift from an adoring fan) and some sparkling jewels (of course). Thanks for visiting my blog today - the theme over at Tag Tuesday for this week is ...