Staying crafty and some wildflowers

I was out traipsing in the hills for work and came across some lovely wildflowers. Luckily for me, I carry a camera for work so of course I snapped these pictures.
The first was the lovely purple crocuses. I always thought they were called prairie crocuses but it is actually called a pasqueflower. I wonder if they will fare well in my garden? Am so very tempted :)
















I also came across these lovely shooting stars. They look so delicate and stellar. The colours in the picture don't do it justice since in real life, it was a vibrant magenta.
















This is the most recent quilt I completed. I used Moda's charm pack since I love the scrappy appearance of the quilt. It is a mixture of Miss June's Scrapbag and Portobello Market line from Moda. It turned out nicely, did it not? I am still working on quilting the lap quilt. I am sure my stitches are uneven and clumsy but from afar, it looks great :0

The backing is a pale yellow and pink polka dot material I picked up from a material sale I attended earlier this year.















The quilt below was made just before the one above. I loved the colours and so got the charm squares at another sewing event I attended in the fall. It is, of course from the Moda line, a mixture of Astor Manor, Mill House Inn and another non moda charm pack. It is larger than a lap quilt and I adore how it turned out.
















Both pictures were taken out in my back yard against the white fence. I was going to try and artfully lay the quilts on the patio furniture but decided to go with the fence.

I have also been working on some miscellaneous cards but did not have the time to take pictures. Maybe I will post them next time.

Clean and simple cards

In keeping with my desire to remain crafty, more cards I have been working on. This card was inspired by a card I saw in Papercrafts magazine. I just worked with what I had. The 3D flower is very popular these days. I believe Tim Holtz started this with his 12 days of Christmas tags that he does. I used tissue paper for mine.Just scalloped punched many layers and scrunched them up to give them dimension. And I am wondering if I should have looked for some more substantial tissue paper since the almost dissolved when i tried to colour them with ink after.




I started a variation of this card in black and white. It was pretty stark and I decided I wanted some colour in my card. Really rust is one of my favourites that is going to be retiring from Stampin'Up!'s colour family- ah, well, gotta clean up so they can add more colours, right? It may not be very visible, but the stamped image has some shimmer on it because I used pearlescent ink.





I guess this really isn't a clean and simple card since there was a bit of work involved. It was inspired by Andrea Walford. I watercoloured the flowers with a water pen and reinkers after embossing the flower outline with black embossing powder.






I got some cheapo stamps from Michaels ages ago with the dessert images and the sentiment "You're Sweet" from their $1.50 bin (yes, up here in Canada, the stamps really are 1.50, even if our dollar is pretty much on par with the US Dollar- no bitterness here). I used a watercolour pen and some inks to colour the donuts and cupcakes then went over time image with Glossy Accents/ Crystal Effects. I like how the markers ran a little on the donut, making the sprinkles look brighter.






The ice creams got the same treatment as the previous card and so the chocolate covering got the glossy accents treatment. That kinda warped the card a little. The white cardstock is either 120lb Papertrey ink paper or some 120lb paper I picked up at a specialty paper store in Edmonton.



I've also been working on quilt number 3. I went to a juried quilt show earlier this month and picked up some more charm packs. The show itself was a little snobby for me ( there were volunteers there wearing white gloves to make sure people don't fondle the work and I am such a tactile person, it was so painful to refrain from touching) but there were wonderful vendors there and I was so tempted to buy more but I want to use up whatever I buy and not have the problem I have with the paper collection. Hence me making cards like the devil.
I'll leave the pictures for when I complete the quilt.

Back in the saddle again.

 


It's been ages. I have been trying to motivate myself to start making cards again. I try to get at least an hour every day, even if I don't actually make something, I will look up designs, or watch tutorials etc. My attempt at sanity anyways.

This Tim Holtz -esque tag was inspired by Artsy Kelly on SCS.

My good friend Jen just gave birth to a little girl and I made this for her.

This is inspired by a Hero Arts card I saw displayed in my lss. They did a much better job at it than I could but I was not going out to buy the Hero Arts stamp since I already have hoards of stamps.

I've been charmed!

So, I've been gripped by another fever..... charm fever. I blame my friend Robin for this. She told me that there was this massive quilting store near my home. I went in and saw a quilt I *must* make. So I ordered the pattern, thinking it would tell me what the corresponding order numbers for the fabric were. A month goes by, I hear the pattern is in and find out that they don't tell you what materials are used and it's supposed to be "fun", picking out your own materials. And I also find out that the pattern uses charm squares. For those of you who are in the dark (mostly not crafty types, I suspect) charm squares are a 5 x 5 inch square block. Many textile companies put together charm packs, collections of their line so you can own bits of the whole line. Awesome concept. And apperently, they colour coordinate too.
They are a bit of a collectors item since people can't bear to cut into the pack and break it apart.

My first attempt at the quilt, I went hunting for material and got a nasty headache. Matching up materials isn't easy. Nor was it fun, either. This is my first attempt.

















If I were to do it over again, I'd pick different fabric.Something not as busy and balance between large and small patterns.Yes, its not done. I kinda stalled as I discovered I don't sew straight. And during this time, I had been salivating over the various charm square packs out there. And the Creative Stitches show came to town last weekend and I went crazy buying charm squares and came up with this- my second quilt.
















I've slowly been chipping away at the charm squares. I even dragged out my iron to use. Yes, you heard me, my iron. That thingy that was still brand new and in the box it came it when I bought it 9 years ago. What can I say, I don't iron upon pain of death. Until now.I might even invest in an ironing board. Yeah, that's crazytalk, I know....

No significant papercrafting for awhile. It's been on the backburner as I work my way through this charm fever. Wish me luck.

Yes, the first is not done yet. Am working on it. But the second one will match nicely since its a combination of two charm pack patterns- Astor Manor and Gypsy Rose. I got them on sale.And because of better technique, the second one will look nicer too :)

Altered puzzle pieces

I felt bad, holding up this wonderful swap with my swap buddies. The wait was definitely worthwhile. Kimmie suggested this swap to use about 3 months ago. She bought the puzzle blanks and numbered them all. We picked our colour themes. Mine was marmalade and oranges. It was a vintage swap. Everyone did lovely work, did they not? My picture does not do this justice. The puzzle pieces are luminous and beautiful.

Here's a closer view of the gorgeous work done by my very talented friends.










L to R, top:
Nancy, Dena and Me


L to R, bottom:
Deb Moon, Phyllis, and Capt. Tammy












L to R, top: Jan D , Kimmie and Mrs Noofy

L to R, bottom: Loretta, Me and Lolita Sue




Isn't this fantastic? The attention to detail is amazing. Kimmie had a little rusted heart tied to the saddle fo the cowboy. Deb and a tiny little antique boot button. Mrs noofy has lovely vintage buttons as well. I am going to mount them separately as they are too lovely to place next to one another.

Pictures from the new nest

The new furniture. View of the living room.











Looking out the front picture window.












The back yard from the patio. The weeping birch may be able to hold a hammock. I am going to investigate closer.

No more excuses!

So, afer a long hiatus, I am back. Havn't felt like blogging as I have been rather uninspired in the art department. Am in the midst of an altered puzzle swap with some friends and Miz Muse has taken off. Part of it is my craft room is in disarray and I still have no idea where everything is and its frsutrating when you spend hours looking for one thing, only to find it won't work. I just have to muster the willpower to get off my sorry butt and organize. Something I am not so fond of. The other thing is the craft room is too dark fro crafting. there is a giant ash tree outside my window that blocks out all the light and it is so sad for me. I suppose I could light the place up but I have taken to the dining room as there is plenty of light there.

Anyways, below are some of the said puzzle pieces.


Top row: Nancy, Mrs Noofy and Lolita Sue
Bottom row:Kimmie, Beanie and Tammy
Pink Rabbit is going to Deb Moon.





















I have also taken some pictures from my travels for work.

Fields of purple wildflowers in Morley. It kinda looks like bluebells or canterbury bells (campanula) but not quite. I'd love to get some seeds to have them grow wild in my garden.














Sitting on the edge of the pristine Bow River in Morley.












Abraham Lake, a manmade glacial fed lake on the highway to the Ice Fields parkway.














View from the Bighorn Reserve.













Crescent Falls in the summer.