Bean Sidhe

..................... as cabbage looking.

This week, at art group, we used pastels to illustrate a cabbage.  We all had half a cabbage and this is my attempt. 

Thank you Rita.

I think this is quite good - for me!  However, someone did comment that it looked like a lilly.

Craft Club

Lindsey designed this project - it's a wee mini book with a card and tags inside - the card and tags are removable from the cover.  My version is a bit pale, it needs a bit more contrast, which I'll use when I do another one.

I need to finish the inside and add words to the tags.

THIS IS LINDSEY'S EXAMPLE - you get a better idea of the whole project from this one.  Thank you Lindsey!  Isn't it lovely?

Knitting

Here's a little cardi I've knitted to add to my collection - it's actually a lovely pale lemon but not sure you get the full colour effect from this photo.  I love doing cables.

Well, maybe you'd be right in thinking winter's still here if you use the weather as a guide but Mothers' Day is nearly upon us as is Easter so I've had a flurry of card making.

Mothers' Day Card I used a free download sheet from Monica's site for this.

Daughter's birthday card - she likes Salsa dancing.  The colour hasn't photographed too well - it's nicer in real life.

St Patrick's Day

Cards for my family.  The printed background sheets are some left over from scrapbooking my Ireland holiday.  I bought them from here (wealth warning!  Loads of great stuff).  The images were from here.

 Easter Cards - variation on a theme

Another free download from Monica's site.

I think I like the one with the Cuttlebug embossed pieces on the best.  I wish I'd embossed the others now.

 Altered Art - Bottle Cap Swap

I entered the Bottle Cap Swap on Sara's Time for Crafting site.  I wasn't really sure what I was doing and when I got my returns, I realised the ones I'd done were fairly basic but that's one of the good things about swaps, you do learn and see other people's work in the hand which is quire inspiring.

Here are the ones I made.

Backs - I made one into a book mark and one into a brooch.

Fronts - I glazed mine with Glossy Accents.

Here are the ones I received in return - aren't they lovely? You can see all the entries here.  Thank you to Sara for hosting and to Christa, Tigerlilly, Maggie, Sara, Lottie and Fudgebabe - beautiful stuff.

Art Group

Rita did the project this week - thank you Rita.  We had to paint a glass which proved quite difficult but then everything at art group is difficult for me.  I haven't mastered the art of using the paints properly yet and for this we had to do a very light wash of paint and mine were quite strong, despite the fact that I'd tried to follow Rita's advice.  I had a tumbler and a glass - it's amazing how many different shades and colours are in glass when you really look at it.

This doesn't look right at all - the I haven't got the ends of the tumbler as they should be.

A BIT better maybe?

My paint's far too strong here.

The actual glass looks a bit wonky here.

At the last art group I attended, Diana tutored the topic which was frottage (no, silly, NOT the rude sort - the arty sort).

Basically it's a similar to brass rubbing.  We'd all taken some textured items.  I took my Cuttlebug folders, others took tree bark, bubble wrap, etched glass, a fan with a filigree edging, cheese grater, textured wallpaper (I liked the effect of that) and fabrics.  There were probably other items but I've forgotten what they were.

I just used ordinary printer paper and a soft pencil.  I also tried some chalk pastels but I haven't done anything with the coloured pieces yet.

Some people made collaged pictures.  I just did this collage.  I've ruled a silver pen over the  demarcation lines to give it emphasis.  I may need to seal it as the soft pencil is prone to smudging but I don't want to give it a gloss.  I'm really pleased with this piece - thank you Diana.

Here are my coloured pieces.

Here are some of the pencil pieces which I've got left to use on anothe project.

This is my collage before the outlines.

This is my finished piece - erm, I'm not sure why it looks so dark - it's softer in shade - the one above is nearer to real life in that respect.

I've also made some birthday cards.  I used Crafty Individuals backing papers and images for this one.

I just don't seem to have had much time to be on the computer lately.

However, I have made some cards, including, finally, come Christmas cards.  You can see them here.

Art Group

I wanted to take my turn at our local art group but as my art is, lets say (to be kind), at an elementary level, I wasn't able to demonstrate any painting/drawing techniques.  Rita said it would be ok if I showed some paper craft projects.

As it's near Christmas, I did some little favour boxes which are suitable for table settings, together with a decorated candle and a couple of tree decorations - a bauble and an icicle.

Pillow box, cake box and napkin ring.  The napkin ring is just a piece of card fastened into a circle.  The cake box and icicle templates are from here.  The pillow box template is from here.

The instructions and template for the bauble are here. 

This card is patterned but it doesn't show up on the picture.

This flower is cut from a paper napkin.  You can make this match the napkins you are using on your table.  The instructions are here.

Craft Club

Dorothy did the turorial this week.  We did a tissue box cover using stamps and distress inks.  Thanks Dorothy, a lovely project.  Here's mine.

More cards

As well as the cards on the slide show (link at the top of this entry) I made this for a cyber bud who had a recent 'special' birthday.

...and this one for my elder grandson who has just jetted off to Japan.

Had a lovely birthday with lots of great gifts, cards, visits and 'phone calls.  Some lovely hand crafted items, which will feature later when I've scanned them.  To those who've sent them THANK YOU!  I really appreciate the time and care that's been put into my choosing and making my gifts and cards.

Had family to dinner (or is it lunch? - well, it's dinner when I eat it mid-day).

I have been watching too many episodes of Masterchef I think - I tried out some new (to me) recipes.  However, the constestants can rest easy for now - I don't think I'll be giving them any competition!

For starters we (my assistant chef and myself) did salmon mousse in cucumber on a bed of watercress (recipe from Mrs Beaton's book).  It set well and I was pleased with it.  My guests said it tasted good too.

The main course was roast beef and roast veg and you all know what that looks like, so no photo. 

For my birthday I had an ice cream making machine so my first attempt at ice cream,  rich vanilla, was put before the testing panel and pronounced a huge success.  I had decided to attempt brandysnap baskets (never done them before, nor seen them done).  They looked somewhat agricultural (a big feature of my cooking), they tasted gorgeous BUT wow, were they hard!  They ended up in the bin because I couldn't afford a dental bill.

So, undeterred, I decided to try a tuille biscuit (never done one of these before either).  One trayful resulted in a mess of crumbs, nice tasting but useless for icecream.  The other trayful, which I cooked slightly longer and left to cool a bit, came out useable - albeit not very atristic.

I also made a boozy jelly using the fruit and juice from my Rumtopf . 

My sister in law brought me a beautiful light sponge birthday cake - it's a wonder it didn't float away - but I'm glad it didn't!

Here are my gifts - a distinct cookery theme this year.

My niece brought me these - I LOVE them when they are fresh and juicy (no, they are NOT conkers - they are chestnuts).

Art Group

On Monday Jane showed us how to make a start on Encaustic Art (thank you Jane) and I finally got around to using the kit which Dorothy had loaned me (I'll bring it back soon Dorothy).

Here's the result of my first try.