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  Just a quick blog post.  Short 'n' simple.  I was today years old when I learnt to make these ridiculously easy origami boxes.  They're a great way to use up a stack of gell prints, or any pretty paper you've still to find a use for.  Copy paper printed on one side with two or three layers of acrylic paint seems ideal for this purpose as it's not too flimsy that it won't keep its shape, but not too thick that it's tricky to fold.  I used a bone folder to get nice sharp creases, but you can improvise with a ruler or something similar.  There's no point me giving instructions for Masu boxes as the YouTube video I learnt from is so good.  Head over via this link to see what I mean. Have fun! 

  Summer's slipping away, isn't it?  The evenings are shortening, conkers are beginning to fall from trees and there's a feeling in the air that autumn's on it's way.  Hopefully the cold weather will hold off for a while as I've no intention of putting the heating on for a long, long time.  I grew up in the Seventies, in a house lacking central heating, so I'm used to chilly bedrooms and wearing extra layers being the norm, not the exception.  Anyway, I thought I'd begin this crafty round-up with a few successful gell prints I've done lately.  I mean, they're successful in my eyes.  Who knows what anyone makes of 'em! I love the effect you get layering white on top of the print. All of these have three layers in total - a plain background, then a stencil, then another stencil on top of that.   I've been using prints to make seed packets, for the love-in-a-mist and hollyhock seeds I've collected from the allotment.   Easy to make and y

  Here's a round-up of what I got up to yesterday in regard to all things crafty.  I made a few more stamps for use when gell printing.  They're simple shapes, inspired by watching Elizabeth StHilaire on YouTube and her Botanicals foam stamps that represent stylized versions of poppy seed heads, leaves and flowers.   I used Hobbycraft adhesive backed craft foam and leftover pieces of plastic to stick them to.  Plus a hole punch to add the dots.  The resulting prints aren't sophisticated, but I'm happy with them.  They add a natural look to a background, and you could paint or draw more finely detailed images over and around them.   I also decided to make a - well, what do I call it?  It's a single sheet of cardstock folded into three.  In a Megan Quinlan video she refered to such a folded card as a book, so maybe it is a mini-book?  I'd previously made a little collage in a journal, with the wording 'Keep Our Oceans Plastic Free'. I particularly liked th

  I thought I'd talk a little more about my wall hanging that's getting nearer completion.  It's my interpretation of the theme 'Creation', and is made with a calico base, measuring roughly 16 x 17 inches in size.  I've pieced together various fabrics to try and represent sea, land and sky, and embroidered and appliqued fishes and - so far - just a solitary bird.  There will be more!  The material making up the land is my handpainted material, done with a mix of acrylic paint and Inktense.  The line of yellow that runs between land and sea is meant to be sand, as on a beach.  I did think about making some pretend rocks and pebbles here, using either grey material or grey beads, but neither of those looked right when I tried them out.  It's all very much been a process of trial and error, and there are definitely things I'd do differently if I started from scratch all over again.   The trees are made of brown felt which I've lightly padded out, stuffi

  I'll begin with photos of gravestones.  Yup, gravestones.  Why?  Just 'cause I was taking a shortcut through a cemetery this morning and these old stones are so beautifully made.  All the little glimpses of past lives you get as you wander by.   The grass was being mown, and the scent rising up from it was lovely.  Apparently grass releases the scent as a stress reaction to being cut.  According to the all-knowing Google, the scent's made up of chemicals called GLVs (green leaf volatiles), a mixture of oxygenated hydrocarbons.  The things you learn from a casual internet search.   My photos aren't the best, are they?  I mean, you can see my trainers in this one!  I'll have to go back when I've more time and take some decent shots.  But this inscription's interesting as Ann Robinson, the blacksmith's wife, lived until a ripe old age.  82 was pretty good going in the 1800s, wasn't it?   During my walk into town today I was forced - forced I tell you!

  I've been spending a lot of time gell printing.  Cutting up prints, gluing them down, cutting them up again.  I had in mind to make a stack of postcards, but wasn't massively impressed by my results.  I mean, they're okay, but they're lacking something.  Not sure what.   I know lots of people add lettering to their collages and handmade cards, along the lines of ' hold on to your dreams ' and ' be kind '.  But I'm ambivalent about those additions.  Maybe I've seen too many cringeworthy ' Live! Laugh! Love! ' style messages emblazoned on everything from kids tee shirts to coffee mugs and even peoples kitchen walls.  The wording can seem too cheesy for my liking, but each to their own.  It'd be a boring world if we all liked the same thing.   I've also been making a stack of painted papers.  The sheets of lightly coloured A3 are being cut and folded into individual small booklets, then having cardboard covers added.  Like this gre

  When I was in Leeds the other week I took advantage of Pebeo paints being on half price sale at Hobbycraft, and stocked up with lots of vivid colours and metallics.  Consequently, I've been messing about with the gell plate lots over the last few days, trying them all out.   I've ended up with a decent stack of prints, and permanently paint encrusted nails.   Today I've been chopping up some of those prints, cutting and collaging them on to a base.  I had a couple of false starts.  The idea initially was to use a PVA style white glue to stick the pieces of painted copy paper and book pages on to a substrate of thick paper.  But that didn't really work.  The collaged pieces buckled & crinkled as the thick paper wasn't thick enough to provide a firm base.  Then I tried using a glue stick and slightly thicker but still bendy card.   But the glue stick didn't firmly hold down the painted copy paper.  So my latest attempts at collaging were on a more substantia

  Yesterday I travelled into Leeds city centre for my monthly Stitch Art group, getting there to find the Art Gallery emptying out as a fire alarm was ringing loudly.  They've got the builders in, so maybe one of 'em inadvertently set it off.  Anyway, after a short delay we settled into the Drawing Room, where these stitchy get-togethers happen, and learnt about our topic for the day.  Lichen!  Yes, we were looking at moss & lichen, and how to represent it in stitch, specifically using water soluble paper and freehand machine embroidery.   We were shown various examples, including the amazing work of Amanda Cobbett , and her website's definitely worth a browse.   We began with embroidery hoops and calico, and learnt Turkey stitch, which I can now add to my small repertoire of stitches.  Then it was on to the sewing machines and my first try at using the water soluble paper and at freehand machine embroidery.  Ooooh, I liked doing that.  You're drawing with the needl