Princess......

(click on picture)

This is a page from my journal that I completed yesterday. I found this poem by Barry A. Lanier a few weeks ago and have been wanting to use it in some way. When I saw Milliande's new video using magazine pages and something called 'Nevrdull' I felt inspired! Despite not having the required material (I believe Brasso may be a good substitute although I haven't tried it) I decided to try transfer solution instead...a lethal substance, so on went the mask!!
I rubbed at a magazine page (a Vera Wang perfume advert) and the ink began to wipe off and smear - I was left with a lovely smudgy effect with just the face and the word 'Princess' left showing (which I altered using a white gel pen) .
I then added a lovely piece of lace given to me by Jean (see post below)....plus some machine stitching, gemstones, coloured AppliGlue blobs and so on......
In case you can't read my writing, here's the poem http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/b-princess
(A 'godet jumlo' is an elaborately decorated, knee length dress from Kohistan.)

Here's another poem (haiku?) that I rather like by the same author ....its lovely to read out loud!

Three Winds

Dans l'orage vent
Mer et terre
Une danse merveilleuse

En la tempestad del mar enrolla
El mar y la tierra
Un baile maravilloso

In sea storm wind
Sea and earth
A wonderful dance.

Finally.....here's another magazine page that I attacked with the transfer solution. I think it was an advert for a caribbean island.
Ready for another poem I think............

Peace........

This is another felted/Angelina piece with an old Christmas stamp stitched in the centre, slightly bigger than a twinchie. I had problems capturing the colours with my camera.....they aren't quite right here somehow.
Have you seen this years stamps? They are similar to this one - and very beautiful. They feature the work of pre-Raphaelite artists. You can view them here.

I've been looking after a poorly husband this week.....and making Christmas tags! The first three have images from Lynn's lovely collage sheets which you can find here. The Father Christmas was cut from a piece of scrapbooking paper....and the 'Noel' tag is really red, not brown!







Before I go, I just wanted to show you my parcel of goodness from Jean....I really love the colours she uses in her work. I'm so happy with our 'trade'; thank you my friend!!

Icicle Gift Box

My lovely friend Lynn has been busy creating collage sheets for Christmas - you can find them in her etsy shop here. I decided to decorate an icicle gift box using some of them.... below you can see it spread out. I used Distress Ink pads for the background and a PaperArtsy stamp. If you'd like the template for the box its here......I'm going to add side flaps next time I make one.
Lynn has created some fabulous tags and gift cards; I recommend you go and see them on her blog (and don't forget to check out her etsy shop too).
I'm in the middle of making some other things using her collage sheets......more tomorrow.

I spent the weekend in Knaresborough with my husband; we were visiting friends who have recently bought a cottage there. It's a really beautiful town with an old railway viaduct over the river. This is the photo I took from the castle.......click on the pictures.

Here's our hotel (right next to the railway station).

We walked quite a few miles with our friends and saw this tiny chapel cut into the side of a rock in 1408. See a better photo here on Wikipedia.

All around the town there are Trompe l'Oeil paintings in false windows....these are on Blind Jack's tavern.

Finally.....a gorgeous bric-a-brac shop with Green Man plaques and gargoyles outside. (You can see the price if you click.)

Our last few hours there were spent watching a wonderful Remembrance Parade go through the town and as we walked back to our hotel we could hear everyone singing 'I Vow To Thee My Country' in the castle grounds. If you'd like to read the rather poignant words, they are here.....

Still Practising....

Still practising the needle-felted birds. (Which reminds me I must check my tetanus jabs are up to date.) Lynn suggested making a nest....but I think I made the wrong size. A snug fit, you could say. I tried making wire feet but couldn't get them right....so this one is sitting on a twig. (I thought I'd better make that clear because my DH took one look at it and said its feet are at a funny angle. Grrrr....)


The lovely Rini and I have swapped inchies this week. She sent me these gorgeous blue and gold ones which I absolutely love. You can see better photos of them on her wonderful blog here (my camera just wouldn't get the colour quite right today.....I think it was probably the light).

She also very kindly sent me a dangly charm which she made herself. It has a special fragrant stone in the middle.......which smells wonderful and goes beautifully in my bathroom (which is where Rini suggests putting it - see her blog).

My third gift is a friendship pillow....what a wonderful idea! I shall definitely make some of these in future. Thank you very much Rini; I hope you like the things I have sent you!

This year Halloween was a bit of a non-event in the area where I live....we didn't have one trick or treater! My son and daughter managed to have some fun though..... they went to (separate) parties over the weekend. You can maybe guess who they dressed up as (I spent about an hour drawing tattoos on Liz's back and arms).
I'll be posting the ABAA Challenge tonight because I'm away for the weekend and won't be able to do it tomorrow. Here's a sneaky preview of one of my pieces. Its just 2" by 2"..........
Hope you'll come and join us!
(PS You don't have to use fabric.)

Felting Frenzy!

This week I've been having some fun with knitting and felting. I've seen felted animals on etsy and thought I'd have a go at making a bird.
I didn't really know what I was doing and it didn't look too promising at first......

.......but it grew......
......and finally ended up looking something like a bird!


Here are the knitted flowers before the hot wash.......

..............and after
I've made these before and added beads, but this time I decided to do some needle-felting onto them (after the wash).All the flowers were made from the same ball of variegated Noro wool.


The bird was made from wool top bought from Wingham Wool.


And finally......
I treated myself to a second hand Cricut machine this week - and cut all these out this morning. What fun!!!!
My intention is to scrapbook the huge pile of photos we have........(when I get a spare minute or two).

Waxed Papers

You may have noticed I've had a rest from my PC for a couple of weeks! I'm going to be teaching a few classes at The Beetroot Tree Gallery so I've been practising and producing some examples.
I've been playing with waxed papers....great fun!!

This is my journal cover decorated with waxed papers and metal. I've just discovered the joys of cutting out shapes from the copper sheet using a paper punch.

To make the paper............first spray inks onto a piece kitchen towel and when dry, screw it up. Next step is to glue it onto a piece of A4 paper with a thin layer of PVA - keeping the creases . Then when the glue is dry you need a candle (or beeswax) plus an old oron (I used a quilting iron). Put the iron onto the wax and let it drip onto the paper, all the time smoothing it out with the iron. Don't let the wax get thick and cloudy (if it does, just keep ironing it away).
The paper ends up like thin leather.....it feels gorgeous........and of course you can stitch into it and use it for all sorts of things.

Here's the finished piece....click on it for a closer view.

And another example.

Maze Books

I will also be making maze books at the Beetroot so I've been producing a few examples of those as well. For instructions, watch the docrafts video here.
A 12 x 12" piece of scrapbooking paper is ideal (reversible is even better).....producing a 3 x 3" book.
The first book fastens with a ribbon, the second with a press stud (superglued on).

Before I go I just want to thank the lovely Shonna for giving me an award.

I recommend a visit to her blog....she paints the most delightful pictures; her latest one is very special.
Thank you Shonna!

I'm Back......

Can it really be only a week ago that I was lying on this beach........

...swimming in this pool

...catching this ferry to town
...admiring this view on the way

...eating this food (a shared platter!)
...and drinking cocktails by the harbour?

It seems like just a distant dream now!!! But I feel very fortunate to have been there and I had a wonderful time. Skiathos is a very small island with lots of lovely sandy beaches and a beautiful town........and possibly the shortest airport runway in the world! (Landing is quite exciting).

One of the nicest things about coming home was finding a parcel of treasures waiting for me from my lovely friend Lynn. She and I have been doing the Suzi Blu 'Goddess and Poet' workshop and Lynn did a fabulous painting which you can see here. I was thrilled to find that she'd printed it onto fabric and made a special book for me using wool felt (gorgeous!) I absolutely love this and will keep special things inside all the little pockets.

I recommend a visit to Lynn's blog...its delightful. And occasionally her dog Cooper writes a post (you should see what he has to endure, poor thing - read his latest blog).
Oh the joy of doing swaps with friends!! Its so exciting to open a parcel and find precious things like these. Thank you Lynn....not just for all this but for the wonderful help and support you've given me recently. I have some truly FABULOUS blogging friends!
I finished this mini canvas today (5" x 5")......I don't really like yellow and don't know why I used it; but it turned out kind of ok I suppose.



Now I need to do some blog-visiting.........

Friends....

This will be my last post for a little while as we are leaving for Skiathos in a couple of days. Before I go I want to say thank you to everyone who left such encouraging comments about my doll. I'm looking forward to starting on a new one when I get back from my holiday.
I also want to dedicate this little piece of work to all my fab friends out there who have been such a tremendous support to me these past few weeks.........you know who you are!!!
I started off by wet-felting, added more by hand needle-felting, then finished it off with flowers, stitching and beads.
It says....... 'A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words'.

Yassas!!

Saving Grace.......

Well, I did my best.....and I don't think she turned out too bad. Not pretty....but thats ok.


Here's the begining and end of the painting stage.......yes, its the same doll!

In Need of Some Beauty Treatment......

I've been working on my cloth and clay doll for the past couple of days...but I can't believe how ugly she is!!! I think tomorrow is going to be the crucial day - I can only hope that paint will be her saving grace. In fact, that is what I shall call her.........Grace.
Here she is waiting for her legs to be sewn on. Her skirt was soaked in coffee (deliberately - not an accident) and is now hanging on the line. Now you'll have to come back tomorrow, won't you.......if only to see if I can perform a miracle!

We had a day in Nottingham on Saturday and I bought this fabulous candle from the Token House; it smells amazing. But the pot is the best part....... how gorgeous is that!
Yesterday I gathered up all the hydrangea heads in the garden to dry them...such pretty colours.


And finally......in watercolour mode........

Precious Things.......

I have a few things to show you...so I hope you'll bear with me! First of all....we've only just dared to open up our bird box and have a look inside. We knew that the blue tits had deserted the nest in May because a black cat kept upsetting them....but we wanted to be absolutely sure. Inside; 10 perfect eggs in a cosy nest; so beautiful ..... but so sad. My son says they look exactly like Cadburys Mini Eggs - and they are the same size too. Yuk.....doesn't bear thinking about!!!!


I decided to have my own set of 'Mini Moos' having admired the ones friends have sent in packages recently. It was great fun choosing which pictures of my work to have on them.....and I'm thrilled with the results!!
Just look at this array of gorgeousness! I ordered these collage papers from Ro Bruhn's etsy shop....I love her work. I'm going to use them on some mixed-media pages in a journal. I want to play with combining paper, stitching and fabric.
And lucky me! I won the give-away on Corinne Phillips blog....six wonderful fairy postcards of her work. They will probably appear on my journal pages too. I especially love the Little Black Dress fairy......
My printed tapes arrived from lillalotta.....looking forward to using them.
And finally.......I've been making ATCs using copies of my own paintings. I printed out sections then added extra paint and embellishments. These two will be winging their way to a new friend, Gini, who I have recently met through ABAA. She's a lovely lady who has a great sense of humour! I recommend a visit to her blog.

Chunky ATC Challenge and More Gifts!

Over at Saturday's Workout the challenge is to make a chunky ATC.....and as I have a drawerful of these (thanks to DH) I thought I ought to take up the challenge! I used a sketch of mine from here and added some colour using pencil crayons, acrylic paints, torn paper, lace, paper napkins, heavy gesso, gold pen and some embellishments.

I had another wonderful surprise in the post a couple of days ago. My lovely friend Jacky in Australia told me she would send a bookmark for my fabric book (to go with the page she made) - but I wasn't expecting one of her gorgeous Klimt Dolls as well (in all my favourite colours!)
She is so beautiful! And I love the way Jacky has shaped the base and weighted it with rice (I think) so she stands up perfectly on her own. Just perfect!
And that wasn't all.....she included the prettiest bundle of fabric, lace and beads which I haven't yet undone. I just love looking at it all together like that. Thank you Jacky.....I am so grateful.

*****************

I discovered an Etsy site last week called Lillalotta - where Anna sells beautiful printed cotton tapes with words and pictures on them. I ordered these, plus a pretty alphabet. Can't wait to get them!
My next project will involve painting faces on clay.....I've subscribed to Jane DesRosier's doll workshop. I've been wanting to have a go at this for ages, but I didn't think I'd be able to do the faces. Well now I think I'm ready for a go.......
......so watch this space!

Flora

My husband recently cut up a load of woodblocks for me in all shapes and sizes....so I thought it was time I used one of them. This is Flora...a mixed-media piece with pencil, crayon, acrylics, gesso, paper napkins, gold flakes, stamps, treasure wax and upholstery studs.

She's quite small!
Whilst I'm here I'd like to thank my lovely new friend Caterina at La Dolce Vita for giving me a MeMe blog award. I am supposed to pass this on, but I find that kind of thing just too difficult. I've looked up the meaning of MeMe (rhymes with dream) and it means a unit of cultural information that represents a basic idea that can be transferred from one individual to another, and subjected to mutation, crossover and adaptation. I've been asked to say 7 things about myself.............
......here goes:

1. I LOVE flip-flops and have a huge collection of them. I even wear them throughout the winter (but not in the snow).
2. I HATE halloween (and orange with black) - not too sure why, but I do like Gothic images, crosses, Poe, crows etc.
3. I LOVE David Beckham and really don't care what you say about his voice. Its not his voice that I'm interested in (although I do think it has improved).
4. I HATE clowns.....they just make me feel funny and shuddery. Just weird.
5. I LOVE feta cheese. Especially with tomatoes and olives. Preferably in a greek taverna.
6. I HATE pasta. It sits in my mouth and won't go down. So you see....I have tried.
7. I LOVE fairy lights and have them on in my lounge and conservatory every night of the year.
Like dogs......they are for life, not just for Christmas.

I would love it if some of you in my bloglist took on this challenge....go on, I dare you.

Give Away - and a great blog!

I've discovered a great new blog and a fabulous give-away.......but there's only one day left to enter!
I recommend a visit to Cindy's Art and Soul - Cindy makes the most beautiful jewellery and sells it in her etsy shop. Here's the link to the give-away ($50 woth of her jewellery!)
Those earrings are adorable!

Maria

Here's my completed piece on wood following SuziBlu's week 4 class. We used modelling paste to create an aged effect....I think I've discovered a new love! I can't wait to start another one....

Here's the progression.
And the finished piece. At least I think its finished.....it's really hard to know.What's interesting is as soon as you put a photo on your blog you can see all the faults. I can now see that her nose is a bit wonky and her lips aren't symmetrical........but I quite like that.
Some close ups.....

Take Time........

I spent today doing a mixed-media piece in my new Moleskine journal. This is a double page spread, 8" x 10".
I tore a previously drawn face from my sketchbook and stuck it down along with some torn tissue, text and painted text (made by Patty and used to wrap one of the gifts she sent me).
Then I added paint, stamps, words, ribbon etc.
Close-ups.......

The words say...... 'Take time each day to sit quietly and listen'. They are from a lovely painting Sesga sent to me a long time ago, so I hope she won't mind me borrowing them.

This is stage one of my next project. I drew the face on cartridge paper, tore it out and stuck it down onto wood.
Its going to have a lot of paint, crayons, ink and modelling paste added to it. It will possibly become Mary....like SuziBlu's example.
I hope I don't spoil her!

The Fabric Book Returns!

My angel book returned from its travels a few days ago - its hard to believe that it has spent time in Wales and Australia! Sesga, Dot and Jacky made such beautiful pages - its very precious to me and I will treasure it. You've seen my pages before (sorry). The cover is at the top...and below are the rest of the pages............

(all pics are clickable)

mine

Dot's

Jacky's

Sesga's

Back cover.

I hope to make another page before I stitch everything together.

I have been involved in a swap with my lovely friend Patty and received a wonderful surprise in the post this week....lots of gorgeous things......

...including a beautiful arch, an ATC with a very special image......

.......a decorated little sea urchin shell (how sweet!).........and a delightful fabric bookmark.There was a wonderful smell when I opened the parcel because she also included one of her woven Lavender bundles. A parcel of delights - thank you so much Patty.

I received another surprise birthday present from Dot this week. I had admired her cute little felt 'seedling' from Squirrel Momma and couldn't believe it when I opened the packet to find this letter from the 'Momma' herself!!And here he is.....the naughty little Tomi! I love him!! Go and check out Amy's etsy site - there are lots of cute things to buy including felt seedlings and little owls.

Big hug and huge thanks to Dot....what an incredibly thoughtful friend you are.

And finally.....if you are still with me...I am celebrating the discovery of a perfume that I actually like!
I have a problem with the majority of modern perfumes - they just make me feel nauseous and give me a headache. Well this one (bought for me by DH for my birthday) is absolutely gorgeous. Its by Lollia and its called wish. It has little gold-leaf bees on the bottle - just beautiful.

I have felt well and truly indulged for the past 2 weeks, which is lovely because yesterday wasn't such a good day - I spent 45 mins in an MRI tunnel listening to Jack Johnson on huge headphones (to drown out the sound of the scanner and hear instructions from the doctor). No offence Jack....but I don't think I'll be listening to your music again for a long while.......

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend,
Linda x

Journal Cover......and Gifts!

I decided to have a play with my Luana painting, so I printed out a small version of it and used it as part of a collage for a book cover. I used a variety of paints, plus thick gesso though a stencil, a bronze cross, torn papers and a gold pen.
I want to thank everyone who sent me such kind comments about my painting; this is all new to me so I really appreciate every single one.

My original painting is 8" x 8"....this book cover is quite small - 5 1/2" square.
If you've got a spare minute, I thought I'd show you some of my lovely birthday presents.......

.......a beautiful gold necklace with a freshwater pearl from my daughter and her boyfriend, a stunning chunky pearl necklace from my mum, a bead for my bracelet from my sister (its almost full now!), and a book (one of the presents from DH)..................some gorgeous fabrics, buttons and beads from my lovely friend Dot including 2 hand-made bird beads - just look at that cute little owl! (She also sent me my fabric book back from its trip around the world - I'll show you that tomorrow)

....and last, but not least, yet more luscious fabrics, a bracelet and a delightful hand-made doll from sweet Sesga in Wales.
I am so lucky to have such lovely gifts...and wonderful friends.

Text on Tissue

A few people have asked me how I did the text on my painting.....well I cheated a little.
Sometimes I do write freehand with a Pitt pen, but on this occasion I used tissue paper.
First glue a piece of white tissue onto a sheet of A4 paper (only a thin line of glue around the edge!) Let it dry.
Then type the text on the computer and print it onto the tissue paper.
Pull it gently off the A4 (or cut around the edges so the tissue becomes free), then tear out the words carefully.
Glue them onto your work with gel medium and the tissue won't show! Its a bit like the paper napkin technique I suppose.
Make sure you glue the tissue down well (or use tape) or it will mangle up your printer - if you do that - I take no responsibility!!!
(PS The green mess is the mat I work on - in case you wondered!)

Luana

This is my first attempt at a portrait/journal page. It almost ended up in the bin a few times....but I got there. (Thank goodness for gesso.)
She started off just as a face without much character but gradually developed into my alter-ego. She is Luana...warrior queen.... lol!!! (I found the name that was the most like mine - and it actually means warrior.)
Luana is strong, independent, daring, brave....all the things I'd like to be.

At the bottom it says.... Alter-ego: second self, a part of a person's personality which is in marked contrast with his or her regular personality.
(Please click on the pictures)
I used ....... pencil crayons, acrylic paint, Lumiere paint, gold lace, German scrap, black (Pitt) pen, a gemstone, gold pen, sequin scrap, leaf stamps, gel medium and gilding flakes.
Maybe I'll go and start another one whilst I'm in the mood.......

A Busy Week.....

I'm still practising my drawing.....this is number 8..... but tomorrow I must move on to adding paint and embellishments - I'm lagging behind. (Go and see Lynn's lovely piece and you'll see what I should be doing!
I've had a busy week; it all started on Wednesday when DH and I went to Birmingham on the train (an event in itself!)
First stop was for coffee..... (it seemed a shame to disturb this)

...then we visited the Museum and Art Gallery.....
...where we had arranged to meet Rosie and her husband.

There was a special Edward Burne-Jones exhibition on (The Perseus Collection) which was a lovely surprise.

After all that the four of us had lunch in an Italian restaurant, where Rosie gave me a gorgeous present she'd made for my birthday (plus a fabulous art book.... Collaborative Art Journals). Lucky me!!

It was my birthday yesterday and this is my "official birthday portrait" taken by my personal photographer, lol !!! Please don't click on it to get a better view of the wrinkles and baggy eyes.

Fabric Collages

I completed a couple of fabric collages this weekend - they are for a special project I am involved with (its a tiny book...4 1/2" x 3 1/2"). I painted the dove and its background on cotton fabric using acrylic paints.
I also went to The Beetroot Tree gallery and had a wander around their brilliant new exhibition called Mutual Support. It features 'Up Front' - a group of 8 female artists who create beautifully adorned bras, corsets and other pieces of mixed media art. You can see some here and here.
Its all in aid of Breast Cancer research and they have all kinds of activities going on including a raffle where you can win pieces of their art (they even have a 'booby prize' haha!!) I went with DH and so couldn't dwell too long...I may have to go back for another look this week!
Corinne Phillips is a friend I met through blogging....she shows some of her fabulous work from the exhibition here.
These are the 8 artists involved.... (click to read names)

The Lady of Shalott

I've received quite a few emails regarding my last post and it seems many of us are Lady of Shalott fans. I love the poem...such a fascinating story...and there have been many versons of her recorded by artists.
Thanks to Wendy I have discovered the fabulous Loreena McKennitt who sings the poem...this is glorious............I'm off to YouTube to find more of her songs!

Coffee and chat......

Tried to be fancy with my coffee today and made a clover leaf stencil - just humour me please. Over at Kimmie's place (and Pat and Patty's) its 'Tea on Tuesday', plus a bit of chat.

Well .... did any of you watch the new series on TV last night about the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood? I'm a big fan of the PRB and it encouraged me to get out all my gorgeous books on the subject. Even DH became quite interested.
I have a very old book about Rossetti which I bought about 30 years ago from a junk shop.

I've never really flicked all the way through it before and was rather surprised when this fell out...a postcard dated 1904. Its a picture of Bournemouth (where the book was first purchased).

The book was published in 1906 and the inscription inside is 1908.Here's the man himself...a self-portrait from inside the book (it has tissue papers covering the pictures).
Here are my favourite paintings from this - which is my favourite PRB book.
Just look at those fabric folds in the detail!
Then I began to realise that one of the reasons I'd chosen all those paintings was because of fabric - the velvets, the satin and the embroidered cloth. And the worn and tattered skirt of Millais' 'The Blind Girl'. (Plus the lady in blue reminds me of how I feel in the mornings.)
They were certainly a talented bunch of artists.....if you want to find out more about them look here.
I'm hoping to take DH to see one of the best collections of PRB paintings this Saturday - at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (fabulous place - and its all free!)

Just wanted to thank Tara at www.aquamarineart.blogspot.com (a new friend I met through Suzi's class) for giving info on her blog about Photoscape which you can download for free here. Thats how I've put some of my pictures into groups!!

5, 6 and 7....

Here are my last three attempts before we start using colour. I've just downloaded the new videos....so I'd better go and get started!
Many thanks to all of you who have left such positive comments - they mean a lot. xx

....And Four

I think thats it for today.... shame I didn't start this one lower down the page!! Hopefully there's an improvement from number one....

Practice Piece Number Three

Another Suzi Blu Workshop

Last year I did the SuziBlu 'Les Petits Dolls' workshop and loved it.....so when I saw she was going to run another portrait class, but this time with more realistic-looking faces, I thought I'd join in the fun again. Above is my second attempt at a face (first attempt is at the bottom of this post). The workshop is called The Goddess and the Poet; the idea being that we shall use the images in a journal and write poetry as well. This should be hilarious - I'm rubbish at poetry!!
Below is our first piece of homework - cross-hatching with a pencil with the intention of creating shadows and spheres.

Second assignment.......drawing eyes, noses and mouths. I'm getting there! (Slowly)

Then the final instruction was to put it all together and create a face, just using a pencil. This is my first attempt and the face is too long and out of proportion. For my second attempt (at the top) I printed out the grid that Suzi gave us and measured out the proportions properly. Can't wait for the next set of instructions.....

Catching Up.....

A few months ago I subscribed to Quilting Arts magazine digitally; it saves a lot of bother and is cheaper that way! The June/July edition is full of gorgeous things including an article from the very talented Jackie whose blog I love to visit plus a very inspiring little 'workshop' from Jill A. Kennedy (whose glorious work you can see here).
I tried out some of her techniques involving using wax crayons and inks on thickish hand-made paper which you then screw up and iron until it becomes almost like fabric. I then played around with it......cutting it up, piecing bits back together, machining over, adding fibres, cutting out flower shapes etc.

Its quite small ......4" x 5". I was going to neaten up all the ends but I rather like them tatty.

Another of my favourite blogs is Michelle Ward's and last week she gave a link to a wonderful website called Villainess. They sell gorgeous products like perfumed oils, scrubs, soaps and body creams....which are just that bit different. The way the products are described is brilliant; I recommend you go and have a read. I even like the names.......Decadence, Byzantium, Silk and Cyanide, Scintillating, Paradise Misplaced. I treated myself to a few items (well, it is my birthday soon!) The black envelopes contain small soap samples which you can buy for $1 (you also get two free) - the labels are rather lovely and may be seen on future ATCs etc! (Pictures shown with permission from Brooke, who runs the company)

This week I have been making things for Liz with her 'Marie Antoinette' photos on.

A 5" x 5" chunky canvas .......... (I printed her photo onto tissue paper so the text underneath shows through)

an ATC.....

and a mixed media collage....

I hope she likes them........ (haven't seen much of her for the past few days as she's been with the new boyfriend)