A Peacock made from Stamp Soup!

I saw the technique for making this card demonstrated about 3 weeks ago and the whole thing fascinated me so much that I tried to remember every little thing about how the demonstrator made her creation.  Now I know that I haven’t got it exactly the way she did it, but it’s close enough.

Made on an 8″x8″ scored and folded card, using Polkadoodles Stamp Soup stamps, called Regal Peacock.  But … that name really is just a suggestion, for you could make a million different creations with these stamps because the results will come from your imagination.  You and I could begin with the same stamps and yet we’d make something way different from each other.

Here ….  take a look at them:

. . . can you see the peacock stamp in there? . . .  No?  That’s probably because there isn’t one!   I used 7 different stamps to make the peacock.  You can pick them out … they’re the ones which are a little darker in colour.  I used a black Stazon Ink Pad (solvent ink) so that I could then colour the images using watercolours.

You don’t have to be ‘neat and tidy’ when painting the Peacock feathers,  just free-handed with the paint.  Then once dry, all the feathers (which were stamped onto spare card, then painted) have to be cut out and then ‘feathered’ at the edges by cutting into the images with light, small cuts.  Those peacock feathers are then adhered to the main peacock body which I’d previously stamped and coloured using the watercolour paints, directly onto the card.

Finally …. some parts of the peacock were embossed with gold and green embossing powders.

. . .  and that’s all there was to it!

Although simple to make … I had to spread it over three days so it kind of felt a little time-consuming.  All the waiting for paint to dry, and cutting out of all the feathers….  little things, but they all added up to time.  But it was a totally, thoroughly enjoyable make, I have to admit.  A lot of fun – and I can’t wait to make something else with those stamps now.

So anyway …  how the divil are you?  I feel as if we haven’t got together for a coffee and chat for weeks and weeks.

In my world … the chubby dog (aka the Belly on legs) had to go to the vet this week.  I noticed that she had some tiny patches of hair loss on her back so off to the vets we went and after some examination and a bit of testing, we were told she’s got a Bacterial Skin Infection. (That’s the dog not the vet who has the skin infection).  So we have a little bottle of stuff which we have to massage into her skin … wait 5 minutes, then thoroughly wash off.  And we were given some tablets, which she has to have twice a day.

Now she really doesn’t mind the tablets.  She’s called ‘My Little Fat Bitch‘ for a reason.  She can eat as if it’s going out of fashion, and she thinks those tablets are treats, so woofs them down!

And  . . .   she really loves the massage bit of the stuff in the bottle … but … the bit she’s not at all happy with, is the  ‘wash it all off’  bit.  She HATES the shower.  HATES it.  Did I say that strongly enough? I’m not sure I did so let me repeat myself:    SHE HATES THE SHOWER.

She’s told me time and time again;  . . .   “Belly is not designed for getting wet.  Don’t let Belly get wet.  That umbrella …. that’s for Belly. Hold it down here, over Belly – NOT over you!   Don’t let Belly Get Wet!!“ 

She SO hates getting wet that she would rather plait her legs,  (‘braids’ for folks in the USA),  than go out into the garden to have a tiddle if it’s raining outside.  This adorable, much loved pooch  even squints in the rain.  Yes, seriously. I kid ye not!

So the massage and shower isn’t the most enjoyable task … but then … I don’t have to do it.  Mr. Cobs Senior takes on that job, (bless him)  because I feel like Cruella de Vil  if I try to do it.

When it’s all over and done with … you have to see that rotund little dog absolutely barrel out of that bathroom!   She’s like a bullet out of a gun!   It’s among the funniest things to watch …  and boy can her little legs can move when she wants them to!

So anyhoo  . . .  what’s going on in your corner that you’d like to share with me while we drink the last few sips of coffee from our cups?

Won the Lottery?  Got a new job?  Sold your house?  Adopted a new pet?  Or … by any chance . . .   Does your dog have a bacterial skin infection?  Your cat?  YOU?  I can recommend a vet!   🙂

Wishing you a thoroughly enjoyable Thursday.   May the hours go as fast, or as slow, as you would like them to.  Just find the fun and enjoy it.

Be the reason someone smiles today.  Heaps of squidges from me in my corner, to you in yours.

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Copper? Show Stopper!

One of my family members was to celebrate their 7th Wedding Anniversary and I wanted to make them an appropriate card.  I found out that the 7th Anniversary can be one of two things: The Copper Anniversary or Wool Anniversary.

For a moment it did cross and entertain my childish brain that I should do a little felting project with some wool tops, and make a couple of sheep and fix them to the front of a card,  ….  of course that would be ….  after I’d done a watercolour bit of painting to the card and done the grass;  perhaps with a stream running through the field;  some hedging;  oh and a TREE!  Obviously it would have to have a tree! …  and some birds standing in the tree;  Maybe Blue Birds of Happiness!!  And maybe I should add birds in the sky too,  and how about a farmer coming through the gate?!!

But perhaps not.  I would probably have gone over the top, [snigger]  so I decided upon Copper.  But a Copper what?  Pot?  Saucepan?  Wire?  Copper what?   I Googled and up popped copper wire, coil, strands, mines, even copper piping for plumbers,  …. and a Copper Kettle card which I loved, but felt it needed a bit of  ‘cobwebbing‘ …. so I designed a card kind of like it, but a leeetle beet different. (say that in a French accent, it sounds so perfect. lol)

tsk tsk … back to the topic Cobs! 

Copper, Improving society since the dawn of civilization!

 

I made the kettle from Copper Mirri Card and ’rounded’ it,  firstly by gently manipulating it with a bone folder, and then putting different thickness’ of foam pads so that it held the curve.

Taken from the side and slightly above, to try and show the dimension which the copper kettle has.

Although I’d printed the ‘Seven Years’ in a coppery colour underneath the Copper Kettle, I wanted it to be almost like hot coals, so with the help of an embossing pen I added some warm coppery Cosmic Shimmer Embossing Powder, embossed it,  and LOVED the way it turned out.   I embossed the handle of the kettle with another embossing powder (which I’ve had for donkeys years, and never seems to run out) in a darker shade.  Finally … I drew dots and flicks with the embossing pen, so that the ‘fire’ under the kettle threw out ‘sparks’ as it crackled with the heat.

I’d printed some ‘steam’ coming out of the spout which, if you look closely, it says  Copper…  7 years… and it’s bendy and steam like.

Copper – It’s Elemental!

 

The card looks way nicer in real life than it does in these photos.  I tried my best to get good photo’s but I failed miserably.  These are the best of about 25 photo’s.

I will never get an award for photography. 

Copper: The best jewellery to turn your skin GREEN!

But anyhoo …. that’s all there was to it!   😀

Copper: still essential

Happy Sunday!  I trust that your weekend has been throughly lovely and that you are getting as much joy out of it as you can.  I think we should all treat weekend like dirty laundry.  Our aim should be to get that laundry spotless and get every last bit of dirt out.  Likewise weekends.  Get every last bit of joy out of it.  Squeeeze  it until it’s exhausted and you’re happily tired.

Have a truly blessed rest of your day.  ~

 

 

may I introduce Noel, ~ The ‘Merry Christmas’ Shaker Tree

Hello, and Happy Thursday!  I have another mainly white, with a dash of colour from the ribbon, and also from the sprinkles inside the shaker tree  –  card to share with you, direct from my craft desk.

Made on a 7″x7″ square white, scored card, and with a sheet of 7″x 7″ white card which the tree was cut from.

I love shaker cards – but the one thing I don’t love about them is how boring they can look when they’re stood up on the mantel shelf, and all the fabulous sprinkles fall to the bottom of the tree.  It leaves a card looking slightly sad and a bit miserable, because the receiver can only enjoy the card if they sit like a saddo, shaking the card.  (Which is fine if they’re a child, but a tad boring if in their 30’s and above).  So I devised a way of keeping some interest in the cut of part of a shaker card, and it’s really simple to do.  Just add a few ‘stops’ or streamers along the way, which the sprinkles get caught on, and will hold there, so that the shape you’ve cut out stays looking more interesting.

I’ve blown the tree part up in some photos – one with flash, one without, so that you can hopefully actually see the ‘streamers’ I built into this card.  This first photograph is with the flash on . . .

can you see how I’ve added some cut and shaped ‘streamers’ to the layer between the acetate and the back of the cut out – which I devised so that the sprinkles would get caught up in the shapes and wouldn’t all fall to the base of the tree, so keeping the shape (in this case a tree) more interesting to look at.

This next photo was taken with the flash off, so that it might show the ‘streamers’ better …

Can you see the ‘streamers’?

If you decide to have a go at this and do it yourself – don’t make your ‘streamers’ straight lines.  Give them some curves, so that you don’t end up with lines across your image – which could end up looking worse than nothing being there at all.  Oh … and don’t use glitter – because that can totally ruin a shaker card, as it’s a little divil and sticks to the acetate in such a way that it almost ‘fogs out’ anything else you may have in your shaker.

The greeting:  NOEL, was stamped using silver embossing ink,  teamed up with Tonic Embossing Crystals.  The stamp used was from a set of 6 greetings, made by Crafty Individuals.   I can recommend this company, both for their service and their products.  You can find this particular stamp set HERE  <— clickable link.  (I ordered these stamps and they were in my hands 3 days later.  I can’t say that you’ll get that ‘quickness’ right now, because we’re all living in the silly season right now, but I’ve found them, each time I’ve used them, to be very quick and efficient.)

To make the colours chosen for the sprinkles ‘pop’,  I added two lengths of Merry Christmas ribbon, in a lovely rich teal colour.  This ribbon was from the DoCrafts selection, and is a really fabulous weight of grosgrain.  Finally, I added a pearl star to the top of the tree, and voila …  Noel the Christmas Shaker Tree came to life.

I was aiming to get this card posted yesterday (Wednesday) …  but you know what they say about ‘plans’:-   If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.  He must be having a right old riot of a time up there in Heaven right now, as he reads down my list of ‘plans’.

Mr. Cobs and I went to see Little Cobs in his Christmas Concert with the other young members of his school year, at the Church near his home.  Ohhhhh…  I was wriggling in my seat and beside myself with joy.  I wanted to sprinkle rainbows from my eyes with happy and love.  Little Cobs was so over-joyed to see his Grammy and Grandad at the concert that he could be heard over and above any other noise, telling his teacher:  “That’s my Grammy!  It’s MY Grammy!  Look.  LOOK.  She’s there ”  <points finger>.  He’s such a darling, and it was such a privilege to be there.  (Not really well enough to go, but down right determined that I was going to be there, pain or no pain).

We came home,  and Mr. Cobs fed me lunch and then sent me straight to bed, where I spent the rest of the afternoon worn out from trying to escape the awful pain in my back.  He (my GP) has given me pain killers – and they do kind of work (they make the pain easier to live with) but they don’t last long enough, and even the smallest bit of doing ‘something’ causes whatever this is to flare up.  It’s become one step forward and two steps back.

OK.. moan and grizzle over with.  tsk tsk.

Well it’s Thursday ...  and I cannot believe how fast this week is flying past.  We have ten days until  YOU KNOW WHAT DAY!  But .. actually, I suppose I should say NINE days – because you can’t count the day itself – so  IT’S NINE DAYS TILL YOU KNOW WHAT DAY.  (and I still haven’t found a gift for Mr.C!  eek!)

Wishing you a truly lovely Thursday.  Make someone happy today.  Do something to make someones day a little brighter.  Buy them one of those big chocolate cookies?  Or maybe a magazine to read?  Perhaps a cupcake?  Something funny to put on their desk?  Some Christmas Socks? (men might find those a bit of a laugh).  Or just write down your most favourite joke, pop it into an envelope and deliver it to them with a wink.  That might get their heart racing, before they open it and fall about laughing.

Or maybe just tell someone how much you like them.  That’s bound to have a great affect upon someone.

Sending you love … oh … and do you know why I like YOU so much?  It’s because you have that special ‘spark’ about you which makes you fun to be around.  I really love seeing you here, and love knowing that you’re on the other side of my computer screen, having a bit of a smile with me.  So thank you for that.

Have a great day.  ~

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Fairy Shoes, fit for a Fairy Prince!

Cobwebs the Cobbler is back – this time bringing shoes which once belonged to a Fairy Prince!  Prince Extea to be precise.

Prince Extea is a Fairy Dragon Warrior, and also a Dragon Trainer.  He enchants Dragons, bewitches them, mesmerizes them and then, finally, captures them and trains them to be the protectors of all who live in the Land of the Fae, and even to carry elderly Fairies on their Dragon backs,  just like a horse would carry you or I to wherever we wanted to go!

Prince Extea is a very handsome chap with the most fabulous gossamer wings made from the cobwebs spun by the smallest of spiders.  As the light catches his wings they flash the colours of purples, greens, blues and hints of rose-pink.  Naturally, Extea likes shoes which compliment his wings.

Although he doesn’t actually ever wear his shoes out – (being able to fly is very economical with regard to footwear!)  – he still requires a new pair of shoes every now and again, perhaps for a Fairy Ball, or maybe a Fairy Tea Dance, or simply because he has a new set of clothes which he wants matching shoes for.  He brings back his no longer required shoes so that they can be sent to the Fairy Museum.  And that’s why I’m able to show these to your today, before I carefully box them and send them, by Dragon flight, to the Fairy Museum, which is hidden deep within the Enchanted Forest of Fae.

Ok, well back to reality for a moment ….  Cobwebs Fairy Shoes are all handmade from a mix of Polymer clays.  There are no mold/moulds used in the making, and all the Fairy shoes you’ll find in The Cobweborium are designed entirely from the strange and enchanted corners in the mind of Cobwebs (or ‘me’ in other words. lol).

I make each individual shoe to look as if it’s been carefully worn, – so you’ll find all the ‘creases’ in the shoes which you’d expect to find in your own shoes which you wear daily.

The buttons ‘sewn’ to the front of Prince Extea’s shoes are again all hand-made and shaped, and the sewing thread holding the button to the shoe is actually a very fine ‘thread’ of polymer clay, carefully manipulated to make it look like sewing thread.

As you can see from the photograph above – even the soles of the Fairy shoes are ‘worn’ and showing signs of where the wearer has stood momentarily on a rose thorn or branch of a bush;  or stood cheekily in a Birds Nest admiring the baby birds;  or even walked amongst the twigs on the forest floor.

I love making Fairy Shoes, and I think that if I could, I’d probably make them all day every day.

Do you have a favourite thing which you make – or something which you do  – that you’d love to do more often?  Do tell me about it via a comment.  I love people to actually get talking here as it kind of gets everyone talking and getting to know each other.  The internet then gets to be a much more friendly place, and goodness knows we need more friendly places on the net!

Whatever you’re doing today, may you have a day of fun and love …  and ….  do something nice for someone else today.  Pray for the next person you pass on the street. If you don’t pray, then simply wish something wonderful to happen for the next person you see.  Push that wish right out of your head and heart.  Let’s all band together and do something good in the world!

Have a beautiful, blessed day all.