Look what I have won ...........

Wow, just received a wonderful set of crafting goodies from Kim Newberg at PDA. I won them in a contest which required linking blog posts, etc back to the pda site  within a given time frame - as simple as that. Something I always do anyway when I am posting anywhere, "simples!!!!", as the meerkat would say.

Well as it turned out it became a contest between two of us as to who would make more links. I started off a clear winner but Jean Roman came up very strong and we actually finished neck and neck. Kim managed to give us both a prize. And what a prize!

Here is a list of the contents of two boxes of goodies:-

Box 1

a package of assorted paper napkins,
a package of 12 large manilla shipping tags
set of 4 chip board hearts
a lovely paper pack with a variety of papers from 6 x 6 square down to 3 x 3
a paper bag book kit complete with ephemera, ribbons, lace, embellishments etc to creat the entire book.
12 pack of burgundy oval buttons great for embellishing
3 piece vintage clothes pegs
5 piece vintage milk pods/tabs
a wooden picture frame (wrapped in tissue)
25 piece daisy flower embellishments
4 piece vintage wooden thread spools
10 pack of wooden dominoes
15 piece game pack with bingo card and game pieces for embellishing
10 pack coin envelopes
20 piece vintage wine labels assorted


Box 2

Bingo cards
10 piece tissue paper pack
10 assorted craft fibres
2 ribbon cards
a package of mini envelopes
a package of mini bingo cards
some recycled doll arms (its creepy but great for altered doll fun)
a package of large christmas tags
6 pack of rose fabric buttons
assortment of large silk flower die cuts
a package of little pink flowers
assorted diecuts package
assorted diecut clock arms
a wooden box
a paper pack assortment
a package of fabric bags for gifts
a package of premade painted tags and atc blank
a blank art book
a package of stamps
music note chipboard tags
a package of chipboard frames
some vintage book pages.

and here are some photos of the contents, not sure if everything is included but more  ( and more detailed) photos can be seen on the PDA site

well there it is, a wonderful haul and now I am off to wallow in it. So much fun sifting thru it all and imagining what to do with it. I have a few ideas ( now, now; keep it clean) and will be posting the results a soon as is practical. Means you get to see them if the ideas work out. Thanks Kim and thanks to you all for looking.

thank heavens for digital collages

Yep, my knee is still playing me upand our good old health service is passing me around, no nearer to having anything permanent done to fix it yet. But at least I have my PC and am really getting into the weekly "Play with Crowabout" collage challenges on Flickr . I am finding that digital collaging can be great fun and I don't have to worry about making mistakes. Just learn from experience and SAVE after every modification. Anyway here are my latest two collages created with the free download tool, Photoplus. I have version 8 and it should be available from the Serif software site. Like many suppliers they have more advanced versions and their software is at very reasonable prices but I have found that I have everything I need in the free download. Of course there is always the "industry standard Photoshop. Lots more help on the web for this expensive tool.

the great thing about this challenge is that you have to work with a given set of images. You can use other images as long as you use at least three  images from the challenge sheet. I always like to use as many as I reasonably can. The titles of these pieces are to be seen in the images themselves.

If you are into digital, why not give this challenge a go? Thanks for looking.

More digital collages

Still suffering from the knee problem and consequently can't access my studio easily so still the PC is still handy and I am finding new tools which I can use in my photo manipulation software.

I am posting four new art works here, so you can see I have been busy on my PC. I have done a little cutting and sticking down but will show these in my next post.

title: La Sirena

This was created for the Crowabout challenge on Flickr as was the next image. A collage sheet is provided and to enter the challenge you must create a collage using at least three of the elements. A fun way to learn about using limited resources. That is not to say that the collage sheets are not really good, with interesting images.

title: come in #6, your time is up

The next two are just me playing on the PC. both have self created backgrounds, one a pastel painting of a tree ( deceased) and the other a collaged piece using small scraps of magazine images. It has then been modified to give a B&W, desaturated image. The colourful images used with it stand out well from the background. The tree painting gave me an idea to create a joke about the wooden sandals that you see worn by geishas.

title: beach babe and friend

title: the slipper tree

Thanks for getting this far, hope you liked the images.

There are of course many helpful books around on using SW like photoshop, PS elements and others. Some expensive and some are free, for myself I am still using V8 of Photoplus which can be downloaded for free. It has more features and tools than I have so far used but still manage to create exactly what I want. Horses for courses but if you are new to this art form why not try it for free before spending megabucks. there is plenty of help around on the internet.

if you want paint programs, rather than photo manipulation SW then google for Artrage, Artweaver or project Dogwaffle. All have free download versions. In fact there is a good project to sort out some good links to these free progs, I will put myself up for it and bring you the results in due course.

A little out of my depth with textiles

The current challenge on the Artful Ideas group on Flickr is to use textiles and fibres to create an ATC. Well, I do use these items (sic) in a modest way as embellishments but do not remember working an entire card from textile. However, how difficult can it be? Coming from someone who can't even thread a needle that is a rhetorical question - thank you! But that nice lady Nancy Torsen, our leader on the group did suggest that adhesive might be a way forward.

I used a "damask" type of material ( yes I have collected a few scraps and this one is just like our tablecloth) to cover and fold around the back of a card base to stiffen the atc. On the back I placed a piece of red, "satiny" material ( no, I don't know any other way to describe it but it was shiny) to cover the top cloth where it was wrapped around, so that it would stay in place. I glued them down ( don't ask!!!) and left it under a pile of heavy books to dry overnight.

I had decided to stamp an image on the front and build up fibres and ribbons, etc around it. As it happened I bonded a pink ribbon to the bottom of the card and put a large lace ribbon over the bttom half of the image. Just for contrast, I put a green./gold ribbon under the lace. I then used a fibre-wrapped frame to put over a small mirror, and added sequins, a faux gem and a small heart to encircle the head of the figure. Sometime the plans and sketches I make are thrown aside and I just go with the flow.

I did not find this easy ( nothing to do with changing the plans) as it did not feel right for me. I fel that I will not be deserting paper-craft just yet. But at least if got made and I hope that it will be appreciated for what it is. Thanks for looking...........