Handmade notebook

My hubby very proudly hates tech. He only uses it when he has too and if he didn’t love his photography I don’t think he would use it at all. When he dose use it he only uses it for basic photo editing and storage. He has an iPad which is crammed full of photos so I talked him in to having a less expensive tablet to take the pressure his iPad. Unfortunately that is android, so he has another system to learn and he is not enjoying that in the slightest.

      So to help I made him a Steampunk (thought it was rather appreciate) notebook using recycled box card, masking tape a hair band and the beautiful Timekeeper paper from Kaisercraft. I could of just stapled some paper together but where is the fun in that.

Now he can keep notes on how android works as I show him

Wish me luck because to be honest I don’t know what I’m doing half the time!!!  Don’t you just love tech!

Altered suitcase part 2

  A couple of posts ago I showed you the covered tiny suitcase I made as a project for The Fruit Pixie online shop I design for. 

Well this is what I did on the inside.

As you can see I have divided it up into little pigeon holes to store a few craft supplies.

But first I painted the inside to match the outside.

I then used foam core board to make the shelves and dividers. Foam core it very sturdy but light as a feather. I covered the front edge of the pieces with the beautiful Craft Consortium decoupage paper.

Then to make some matching storage.

At the top, a tray to hold pens scissors and what ever else you want really.

A little pot for crayons and a tiny art journal. Well, who said art journals have to be big.

The deep box holds my glue and any paper bits I want to use. It could hold lots of things.

I then left a section empty to hold ink pads perhaps?

Then to fit in the cover an artist portfolio 

To hold collage pieces or the pieces you are working on.

It’s amazing what you can get into a tiny suitcase!!

I had so much fun planning and making my suitcase. It looks so cute by the side of my chair with everything to hand.

This would make a lovely gift for a crafting friend or make one for yourself fitted out for your favourite hobby.

Imagine the fun you could have making one for a child, I’m sure they would love it.

You can find the beautiful Craft Consortium decoupage papers in the Fruit Pixie shop here -

https://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/craft-consortium-decoupage-papers-716-c.asp

Wanderlust week 26 take 2

Wanderlust course week 26.   Theme - Inspiration.   Teacher - Cat Kerr

   After making my first shadow box for this lesson which I love but wasn’t exactly the same as the sort our teacher made.

I wanted to make one that was a bit more in the spirit of the lesson.

First to choose my subject. I love the beautiful animated films of the masters at Studio Ghibli. When ever I watch one of their films,

I have seen them all and have almost all of them on DVD, I can just compleatly loose myself in the beautiful colourful worlds they create for you on the screen. 

The stories are often taken from Japanese folk law, some are funny, some have a message and some are quite sad but they all have a beauty that just pulls you in.

One of my favourite and I do have several, is the wonderful My Neighbour Totoro. It’s quite a well known film of theirs but who can resist Totoro!

So that was my theme. 

Part of the lesson was to print your own papers using the Gelli plate, one of my favourite things to play with, so I designed and cut my own stencils on my Silhouette Cameo and made some texture plates using funky foam to use with my Gelli plate.

I also carved some stamps too,  including his name and the little dust sprite poking his head up next to Totoro.

I really had fun with these projects, bringing several of my crafting skills together in one project is so satisfying. 

If you have never herd of Studio Ghibli or seen any of their film I really recommend them. There is something there for everyone. Please don’t think that because they are animated they are children’s films though. They are definitely aimed at adults.

If you would like to see my other shadow box you can find it here 

http://artyparrot.blogspot.com/2019/07/wanderlust-week-26.html

Wanderlust week 25

Wanderlust week 25. Theme- Inspired by   Teacher - Kasia Avery

  It was hard to choose a woman I am inspired by, there are so many. In the end I chose the amazing Katherine Hepburn.

Katherine Hepburn is an inspiration for me because she never played by the rules.

 She was always true to herself and refused to be moulded by Hollywood 

or the time she lived in. 

She proved a woman could do anything she put her mind to!

Altered suitcase part 1

I bought this little suitcase in a charity shop and knew as soon as I saw it what I was going to do with it.

    To begin with I covered it in gesso and then painted it white. It was originally covered with a blue flower paper which was nice but I wanted to use the beautiful Craft Consortium decoupage paper Cottage Classic for my project.

      So when the paint was dry I used the paper to cover it.

This is such a beautiful paper

I also made a little travel tag to match.

Of course I didn’t stop there. I did something rather special to the inside too. 

To see that though you will have to wait for part 2.

You can find the paper in the shop here -

https://www.thefruitpixie.co.uk/craft-consortium-decoupage-papers-cottage-classic-27505-p.asp

Until then, take care

  Love Katrina x

Wanderlust week 26

Wanderlust week 26.   Theme - Inspired by.     Teacher - Cat Kerr

    Wanderlust continues and I am still enjoying it emensly. I am a bit behind with posting but for this post I want to show you my project for week 26. 

This months theme is Inspired by and for this lesson we had to be inspired by something outside of art. Then use that inspiration to make a shadow box.

I am working on that at the moment but I took the opertunity to make a project I have had in my head for ages.

I bought the shadow box about 3 years ago, have planned many projects for it in my head but never got around to starting on them.

Then last year we were given our names in gold painted wood as a keepsake at our nieces wedding. I immediately knew what I wanted to do with them but again had not got around to making the project.

As it was similar to the project in the class I decided to work with my names and shadow box. Then make a second shadow box a bit more like the one shown in the class.

So here it is!

The shadow box is covered in paper that I made myself using my beloved Gelli plate. I also make all the stamp plates, stencils and carved rubber stamps too.

Inside the shadow box the layers are built up using plastic sheets. So the back is one of my Gelli plated printed papers.

The next layer is a heart I painted onto a thin plastic sheet.

The the final plastic sheet has our names attached. I love the way they fit so nicely together.

I must admit I loved making it and am very pleased with the results.