Gothic arches -- Birds

I am being a very bad blogger at the moment, it's the weather's fault. As well as putting the bungalow up for sale, I am trying to de-clutter, what a hopeless task.
Off that depressing subject, and onto some gothic arches I made for a swap, all in one of my favourite subjects, birds.
They are all a mixture of inking, stamping and collage.

Crafty Individuals course

Spent a great two days in Yarm on the Crafty Individuals weekend course, and made the two pieces of work above. I just love working with houses, so this suited me very well. We used house and tree blanks and either covered them with backing paper, or collaged them. Images were then inserted in the windows, and embellished with charms, flowers etc. One set were placed into a wooden box, and the others into a row. They are both very 3D

Round Robin page for Susan

This is my Round Robin page for Susan, who choose Woman as her subject. I inked and stamped the background, and added the images. I finished it off by adding a flower embroidery strip at the bottom.

Collage. We had to alter Beryl

This is for a swap, where we were given a picture, and then had to alter Beryl. I just cut Beryl's head off, and gave her different bodies. In the first one, I gave her pink wings, with an inked and swirly background. She has her tame jackdaw at her feet.
The second one is a zetti Beryl, who has wheels, but really wants to fly like her yellow friend
The next Beryl, loves music, and has wings to fly.
The last one has her friend with her, and they are deciding who's planet to go back to.
These were good fun to do, and I hope whoever gets them, likes them

Make a Moo or Two Schooldays

Here are my efforts for this week

http://makeamooortwo.wordpress.com

Make a Moo or two: Music

This weeks Moo challenge was music. The first one has an inked background, with stamped music, some torm music on handmade paper, and then bird images added.
The second one has a waxed background, stamped music, and a bird tag, with an image of a little girl added. Some swirls in white pen at the bottom, as I can't resist using white pens when there is a dark background.

http://makeamooortwo.wordpress.com

Gothic arch Handwriting

The Gothic arch challenge this week was Handwriting. There had to be some of your own handwritng on the arch. I inked the background, and sprayed it with a gold Glimmer mist. The row of friends was added, along with a stamped branch, and some birds. I then wrote " True friends are like diamonds, precious and rare, false friends are like Autumn leaves, found everywhere. The edge of the arch has gold around it to finish it off.

http://gothicarches.wordpress.com/handwriting

Another Moo or two

The theme for this weeks Make a moo or two was Mona Lisa and friends.Here are my attempts. They are a mixture of collage and stamping http://makeamooortwo.wordpress.com/monaandfriends

Gothic arch Cats

I thought as I was on a roll, I would have a go at the Gothic arch challenge, which is Cats this week. I love the stamp of the cat, he looks so miserable, and obviously wishes he was a sleek Siamese cat like the other two.
The background is inked, and then papers added. I then stamped the other images, and applied the two cats in his thought bubble.

http://gothicarches.wordpress.com/cats

Postcard--- Emily and the birds

Still on the bird theme, but I needed to do something larger than a Moo, so made a postcard. I inked the background, applied some backing paper in places, and then stamped a few background images. Added Emily and the birds, and doodled a bit over the top. Much happier with this.

Textures, and layers

The first and last of these are packing tape image transfers, which I don't think I'll do again, as I don't really like the shiny surface it gives. The middle one is a distressed photograph. The first one is a rescued disaster. It was a very textured background of kitchen paper which misbehaved and didn't do as it should, so it got altered into something entirley different. Well you must admit it doesn't look like a seahorse does it?

Collage ATCs

Into collage mode now, really enjoyed doing these. On a roll now, so will continue in this theme, until something else takes my fancy. I like distressing the images, and layering the backgrounds. having said that, some sit on my desk for ages, before inspiration dawns, or a colour spurs me onwards.
I really need some new images to play with, but that will have to wait until after the wedding. I have a speech to do this week, so my mind will be elsewhere. I have generously given my cold to my daughter, so she's well pleased, Not

Gothic arches

Gothic Arches




These two arches are for a swap I'm in. The last one using a vintage image and distresssing it, inking and stamping other images, and adding embellishments.
The one with the angel on, doesn't show up very well. I have sprayed the card with shimmer paint, and there is foil in the arch top. I have put gold around the wings, and the edge of the arch. The whole card is quite shimmery, the scanner has dulled it off quite a lot.





The arch with the miserable looking baby on is me. I had obviously been taken to the photographers under duress, and I wasn't going to smile how ever many toys he gave me to play with.
The stamped image I thought looked a bit like me, so put that on as well.
You will be pleased to know, I have cheered up a bit since then.













These two arches show some of my ancestors. The last one is of three generations my great grandmother, my Nan with a family friend, and then my mum, with one of my first cousins. Mum can't remember who the little girl is. My great grandmother looks a bit of an old harridan to me.

The other one is of my great grandparents. Great grandad looks like a typical grandad figure, the sort who would slip you a sweet when your mum wasn't looking.