WOYWW, Random Ramblings and Simon Says/Embellish Challenge.

Well hello All, hello Wednesday and hello November...

Yes, indeed, both Wednesday and November have arrived. Okay - so now I am officially allowed to start feeling a trifle Christmassy. Can't quite do that in October and now the clocks have changed here and it is sooooooo dark, even at 4pm, I can just start to sense some Festive quivers in my toes. Haven't blogged since last week. I have lots of projects on the go and I had decided to buckle down and not to blog until at least something was finished. So the aftermath upstairs is as such - which I still need to clear up.
 I am still working on the collage course which is really great but quite a challenge at times. The whole composition changes when working with paper images and layers rather than stamps and ink. I am also challenging myself to try the "less can be more" approach and see how simple I can keep things. Mmmmm. I don't want to smother things by over-embellishing, but let the image hold it's own.

I have just finished a hanging which I am also going to enter into the Shabby Challenge over at Simon Says and the Vintage Challenge at Embellish Magazine. I have used an old book cover for the base as it had a nice green canvas covering. I aged a background paper using DI and then stamped some details with Archival ink. I added a floral strip, a doily and then layers of music and pages from a Vintage carol book. I used gesso on the music papers to tone them down and added some vintage lace and gold thread...

 For the main image I used a scan from my vintage postcard collection and tinted the image by painting with watered down Distress inks. I also added some Viva gold to the edges to give it some warmth. I love the subdued tones with the splash of colour from the holly. I finished off by adding some old buttons, a crochet scrap and some handmade (by me!) ribbon and lace flowers.

 I used two brass eyelets and some gold and green ribbon to make the hanging cord. It was quite hard to photograph and capture the true tones and details as the colours are quite subtle, but all in all, I am quite pleased. She looks very seasonal and snug in real life!

I also said I would show the pieces I made at the Artsy Crafty weekend after just a sneaky look last week. Now both weekends ore over, we are free to tell all. I ran out of gold metal whilst finishing off my main project, so for now I will just share the Shadow box.

This one really grew on me and I would like to have a go at another one using my own design. There was a lot of jiggery-pokery involved but as you can see - worth the effort.
 So - a busy time and lots more yet to do. But I a woman on a mission - determined to finish off all those half-done, almost there, very nearly pieces.

Next week I am also teaching my first ever craft workshop - so that is quite a major leap. I have taught a over a thousand dance classes in my time but this will be quite a knee-knocker for me...but I embracing both the opportunity and challenge! Will give you the gossip next time.
Hoping to tippy-toe through your arty spaces again - have a good one and thanks for taking the time to be here.
Sarah