End of year Challenge at Indigoblu

Hi all,

I hope that you are all well, and that you have had a peaceful Christmas, I know it's been easier for some than other's this year as every year.

I have some new craft 'stash' to play with, and can't wait, but for now I'd like to share the small canvas I did for the Indigoblu Challenge Blog.  It's an end of year Challenge, and so the prize is larger, and well worth entering to win!

I made this canvas by stamping Jane onto Decopatch crackle effect paper, as I was looking for it to work for two purposes, and think the effect of the Vintage Sepia Versafine on the paper looks good.  The found objects I added, and Altered Ego's from Indigoblu were layered up on top of the image, and painted with white gesso.  I then mixed in some mica powder's to a matte medium, to paint over the top to give a sheen.  It was my first attempt at this kind of canvas, and I've had fun, and learn't along the way.  Pop across to the challenge and have a go yourself, and let me know what you think, and what lovely goodies you got for Christmas!

Wishing everyone a bright and shiny New Year.

Nikki K
xx

Busy Busy.. .

Hi all,  just to say I've blogged today over at Indigoblu, you can catch up here.
It's a card from the weekend's show, I had great fun with the new stamps. 

Here's a peek:

 I've also put my tree up, and done three craft fairs this weekend, phew!

I am working towards something else this week, all hush hush, but very exciting for me, I hope to be able to share good news with you soon, if things go as planned!

Have a good week, whatever you are up to!

Best wishes,

Nikki
xx

Proud to be published. .

Hi all, I just wanted to share a proud moment, I have been published again with the wonderful Kay Halliwell Sutton from Indigoblu, this is my whole page in Get Stamping Magazine, it's issue number 5 and is a lovely contemporary new Stamping magazine.  Kay has done two stunning projects on the previous pages as well.  You get a whole sheet of  stamps on the front every two months, so it's worth having! 

 

I got to play with my favourite medium, Ice Resin, for this issue, and also with Indigoblu Stamps and paints, but I won't give too much away, you'll have to buy it to find out how!

 

 

I'm also very excited about the week ahead, I will be at the NEC demonstrating on the Indigoblu stand at the ICHF events Hobbycrafts show, alongside Kay and Alfie.  As most of you know, Ice Resin is my preferred medium, although I love stamping, and combining the two is the best!  I'm also a jewellery maker, and love to see how I can bend the rules, or put things together that shouldn't work.  That's where the Ice Resin comes in, you can make tissue paper into fabulous shapes with wire and resin.

If you are coming, I hope you can pop by and say hello, and see Kay's brilliant demonstrations, and the great new products from Indigoblu. 

TTFN,

Nikki K
(Indigoblu Ice Queen)
xx



 

A quick post. . .

Evening everyone, a very quick post as I'm shattered from the weekend, I was away at the Indigoblu Secret Retreat, and had an amazing time, you can catch up with my project on the IB blog here.

Also today, (Fanfare). . the Indigoblu Challenge has it's very own shiny new blog!  The theme this month is Chocolate Orange, and it runs from the 21st October to the 20th November, with the new challenge and winner being posted on the 21st again.

The DT have put some inspirational projects up for you, so save the blog to your favourites or subscribe/follow, there are some lovely Indigoblu goodies up for grabs each month. 

Anything goes, as long as it follows the theme and uses Indigoblu stamps only, so cards, mixed media, journaling, show us what you can do!

This is my piece for the DT:

 

I glued microbeads down the spine of the card, then some lace.  The paper is from Indigoblu's Factory shop, it's a creased effect paper and a newsprint, I love them both.  I layered them onto milky chocolate cardstock and orange, then added Elizabeth Bennet, coloured in with Caran D'ache pencils, and a jellyroll glitter pen.  The flowers are a mix of ready made, and die cut strip flowers that I put together myself, with a diecut scroll, and metal embellishments (Tim Holtz).  Finished with gold Candi to make it look fixed down.  A couple of pearly things are added to the side!

Have a good week, hope it's a crafty one.

Best Wishes,

Nikki
xx

 

She had a weakness for pretty things . . .

Hi all,

I'm relaxing today, had a hectic but fun weekend, my Monday blog post is up over at Indigoblu here.

I made a canvas for the August Indigoblu challenge, but never got round to actually telling you how. . so here it is.

I've called it 'She had a weakness for pretty things' as that's exactly what the book page says in the top left corner, I thought it was amusing and apt, as I'm not normally a pale pink kind of gal myself!

There were so many techniques in this, I started with using slap it on to glue and seal book pages, music pages, and stamped tissue paper to the canvas. 

Once on and sealed, I watered down some white gee so good, and painted over the canvas, to mute the colours in the background.  I then used flitterglu and megaflakes to add some flourishes and general shabby detail. 

Each little canvas was painted with Cottage paints, in Iced pink gem, and then stamped, one with script, and two with itsy bitsy backgrounds.  The mdf heart is also painted with iced pink gem, but then kroma crackled as well.  I added lace to give it a feminine feel.  Before all the components were glued in place, I spritzed the canvas with a glimmer mist, in an antique rose kind of colour.

Elizabeth Bennet was stamped, torn around, coloured with Distress markers, and aged with Tea Dye distress ink.  The metal embellishments were added, and then the Rue Romantique bezels were made up by stamping an image, colouring, then using flitterglu to glue it in to the bezel.  This is then sealed with slap it on, and Ice Resin mixed and poured on top, for the lovely shiny clear hardwearing finish.

The September Challenge is running now over at Indigoblu, you have plenty of time still to enter before the 21st, and the theme this month is Things with Wings.  The DT have made some inspirational pieces, why not have a go - there are some beautiful stamps up for grabs each month.

And remember, it doesn't have to be a bird or a butterfly, you can give anything wings (And you don't need Red Bull, just cardstock!)

Have a great week,

Love and hugs,

Nikki K.


 

Curioser and Curioser!

Happy Monday everyone, although someone tell the weather! 

Actually we haven't done bad this year have we, there has been some lovely sunshine, just hope it's not the end!

I've blogged over at Indigoblu today, you can see my post here, I made a clock, with the White Rabbit stamp from one of the Alice in Wonderland plates from Indigoblu, and the fabulous Clockwork set.  Here is a sneak peak.

Just had a tidy up of the craft room, ready for the next round!  Did make this today though, it just needs finishing with a nice chain.  It's using Megaflakes and Flitterglu on black card, is set in a Rue Romantique bezel, and is sealed with a clear dome of Ice Resin, hasn't it domed beautifully?  It's a delicate piece, probably an inch and a half square in total, and I haven't decided how to hang it yet.

 

 



On another note, If you get Simply Card's and Papercraft magazine, issue 115 should be out around the 12th, and I'm really excited to be published for Indigoblu in this issue!  I can't wait to see it!

I've been working on another submission for another magazine, but can't tell you yet when that one is out as I don't even know myself.

If you are a crafter of any description, or love buying handmade, why not pop over to Creative Connections, and join like-minded people for Craftfest Autumn 2013.  You can join the Creative Connections gang as well, it's a huge community of people that promote each other tirelessly, have great fun, and can answer questions, or just be there for a chat.  Creative Crafting magazine is also published here.

Well there are a few things for you to check out, I'm off now to see what else I can start making, although that's all I seem to do, start. . .then not finish! 

Have a great week all,

Nikki K
xxx





 

Where has the day gone?!

Afternoon all, today seems to have flown by, I've just posted my blog over at Indigoblu, pop across and take a look if you have time, it's an inky, layery, kind of tag!  (Are those words?)

Here is a little peek:

 

 

Now I'm off to finish some projects, and then start packing some food and bits away for the weekend, off 'glamping' for a week in our converted van.  As we have Luna now, we haven't been abroad for a while, but I wouldn't have it any other way, can't seem to go anywhere without her!

This was her last year in October, about a year old, enjoying the beach in Barmouth, it was a sunny day!  Her head looks bigger than her body in this pic, it's just the angle, but I had to get a picture of that sandy snout!  She is a proper piggy and snuffles and truffles at everything. 

Well have a good rest of the day, I'm off to take her for a 'W'. . .

Best Wishes,

Nikki
xx

Had a good weekend?

Hi all, hope you've had a good weekend.  My blog post is up over at Indigoblu this morning, and it's a piece of jewellery, I did promise pictures a week or so ago, so here is one finally.  I will post some pics of the animals as well from the Wildlife park day out, I hadn't forgotten.

Enjoy the blog post, and speak soon,

Best Wishes,

Nikki K

Monday Monday..

Hi everyone, well I had a great day out at the Cotswalds Wildlife Park on Saturday, took so many photo's that I need to edit them and I will share a few.  In the meantime, here is my blog for Indigoblu today - titled 'Holding on to Summer'.

Hope whatever you are doing today brings a little sunshine to your life, even if it's not the weather!

Best Wishes,

Nikki K
xx

Blogging on the move!

Morning all, I'm taking a whole day off everything today,  and going to the Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens with hubby, a best friend and her two kids, with three dogs in tow between us.

I'll be back later with a sneak peak of a piece of jewellery in progress, and some pics of our day out no doubt.

Have a good day whatever you are doing today.  Xx

A quick hello. .

Hi all, I hope you had a good weekend, I've been so busy and not posted for a while, it's all good, but I have missed sharing things with you.

I made some new jewellery at the weekend while I was demonstrating for Indigoblu, I had been asked to go down and show off the fab Ice Resin, and I had a ball! 

I will post a couple of pics tomorrow, but for now I think the weekend is catching up with me!

Night night all. x

Rub-on Resist Technique

I've had great fun today, with my entry for Tim Holtz 12 tags of 2013 May challenge. So much so, I made two tags!  I ordered some of the rub on stickers, which landed on my doormat on Saturday, but I had to wait to try them as I was out demonstrating all day, and as Sunday was so sunny here (a huge surprise), we made the most of the day and went out.

The rub-on's are extremely easy to use, I hadn't tried them before, and the rub-on's I remember used to take half an hour to get off the backing, and then leave a dent in the page you were putting them on!  Not with these, they came off easily with the rubbing stick supplied, and a quick pull of the backing paper left them neatly on the page.  There was no problem avoiding the bits you didn't want, but if you were worried, you could cut round the images first, and use them individually.

 Just place the image where you want it on the page, and rub with the provided stick, and there you are!







When you have the images where you want them, you can then dab your distress stains on to your craft mat, and swipe the whole tag through the colours.  Don't worry if it doesn't completely cover the tag, you can fill in later.



Dry the tag slightly, then spritz with water to further react the distress inks and get a nice mottled effect on the tag.

 

Now you can stamp the tag with your main image, in archival ink.  And if you wish, stamp further around the tag with complimentary images.  You can stamp over the rub-ons, and either leave it there (dry with a heat gun to seal image), or rub it off to make the stamp look like it's behind.

  

 

 

I stamped my main image which is from the Tim Holtz Visual Artistry clear stamp range, called 'Lost and Found'.  I then added picket fence distress paint accents with a bottle lid, and cut out the 'Not all who wander are lost' sentiment and placed it up the side of my stamp, as I didn't have the tags used for the challenge.  As I didn't have the enamelled tags either, I used a bezel, which I put the rub-on clock in, and the poison skull sticker as a centre.  I covered these in glossy accents to give the enamelled look.  I did try to 'batter' a brad into submission, but it didn't want to seem to dent for me, perhaps I shoud of toddled down the shed for a better hammer.

 

 

For the film strip, I didn't have the tape, but I did have the acetate already printed from the top of the stamp set!  I cut that up as I store my stamps in cd cases anyway, and it was perfect.  I attached it with pinflair glue, as it's clear and doesn't show.  The butterfly in the centre is on top of the acetate, and the rest are underneath.  I put a little key brad through the film as an added touch.

 

The pen nib was added on top of the orange, it's another rub on, but there just seemed to be a little space needed filling. .

 

The ribbon is coloured with the same distress stains, spiced marmalade and squeezed lemonade, to finish the tag.

 

Here is this tag finished: 





 

And here is the second tag, same technique, just different colours, and I used Tim's metal flower embellishments with the alcohol ink technique on this one.  I used the film strip rub on, and cut out and layered the sentiment, and coloured the ribbon to finish the tag.

 

  

 I can't make up my mind which one I like best, now which one shall I enter?  I missed the tag challenge last month, can I have two this month? 

 

Pop across to Tim's challenge to see which one it is!

 

 Have fun creating!

xx



Working with Polymer Clay.

Polymer Clay.  An absolutely inspiring medium, if you thought it was just for children, think again.  You can do so much with it, make buttons, Art work, Card toppers, sculpture, jewellery, miniatures, beads, and the list goes on.

I first discovered Polymer clay at the age of about 14, and used to make jewellery incorporating real fossils, which I sold through the fossil shops along the Heritage Coast in Dorset, and did local craft fairs.

When I left school and moved away from home, I stopped making things from clay, and moved in different directions with my crafts, including cardmaking and bead jewellery, which I still do, as well as Resin and mixed media.

It's only in the last three years that I've been working with clay again, and I'd forgotten how much fun it is!

Yesterday I attended the Midlands group of the British Polymer Clay Guild, which meets once every two months at Curborough Craft Centre.  I've been going for a while now, and we've had some fabulous tutor's, including Sarah Shriver, and Birdy Heywood in recent months.

Yesterday we voted to have a 'play day', as for various reasons there were fewer of us than usual, so we sat down to play, and very kindly, Rachel my friend from Silverfusion taught us a different technique that I hadn't tried before.

This was her sample piece:

Excited wasn't the word!!  I am not a bead maker.  I have trouble making them round, putting the holes in without squishing them, and just generally making a mess of it normally.  But this was different, a technique where we wrapped the clay round wooden skewer's, so the holes were already made, and cut the beads after cooking while still warm, so they sliced evenly!

Natasha made some lovely examples, including
pendants from her leftover clay which matched the beads perfectly.




















This is my kind of beadmaking!  We even distressed the beads by using household salt before cooking, which meant no polishing or buffing afterwards, this is HEAVEN to me!

Needless to say, I made quite a few beads. . . .

And this is my finished jewellery:

 

I have absolutely tons of beads left to make more with (I went a bit mad on this technique), and I now need to try it in lots of different colours. . .

If you are in the Coventry Area this weekend, pop into Hobbycraft at Central 6, as I will be there all day demonstrating for Staedtler with Fimo clay, which is what these items were made from.  I think I will be showing this technique as I love it so much!  There will be lot's more to see as well!

Now, where is the salt?  . . . . .

Best Wishes,

Nikki

 

Get Crafty with Creative Connections!

Hi all,

I've been a member of the Creative Connections Design Team for the monthly challenge for a while now, but we now have an exciting new blog to play on!

Each month will bring a new challenge, open to all to enter,  May's challenge is 'Weather', and you can see the Design Team's interpretation's here.

Not only is there a monthly challenge, but the Design Team will be contributing to the blog with ideas, stories, tutorials, musings, and much more.

If you haven't heard of Creative Connections, it is a huge online community of like-minded people, we promote each other, have events pages, classifieds, swap shops, and the fabulous Creative Crafting magazine, all free for you to join and browse.

From Creative Connections comes the amazing Craftfest, the biggest online Craft fair, that runs for a whole week.  The next 'Fest' is on 29th June to 6th July 2013.  You can come along just to browse or buy, or book your own stall. Just click on the 'Craftfest' link above.

You won't regret joining this great team of people, they are all about supporting each other as small businesses, and some of the nicest people I have 'virtually' met! 

And if you are a shopper, you will experience great customer service, attention to detail, and an individuality unrivalled on the high street. 

Well this was my DT piece for the May challenge, do you like the way it matches my nails?  It's a vintage image, printed on high quality matte paper, sealed, and set in jeweller's grade Ice Resin, in a gunmetal adjustable ring blank.

Especially appropriate for the beautiful sunshine we have had over the last two days, I must admit to being slightly beetroot around the arms, I was responsible with the suntan lotion, just obviously not enough. . .

I'm off to walk the dog in the last of the evening sunshine, have fun everyone.

xx

 

'Colour'

Today I wanted to share something I made for myself, and it's a work in progress.  My first little Art Journal.

I painted the chipboard pages in white gesso, and on some of them, swirled the end of a paintbrush in the texture to make some patterns that show when they are covered in paint.

I mixed some acrylic paints, to make a bright orange, pink, and yellow, and painted the pages with my fingers.  (Yes - finger painting!)

The cover has the lovely lady from the 'Mr Darcy' Stamp set from Indigoblu, coloured with distress inks and pan pastels.  It is then stamped with bubble wrap, lids from bottles or sprays, and something like credit card edges to ground the image and add interest to the page.

The 'Art' wording is also from Indigoblu, and I then added some chipboard flowers, cut out text, and stick on pearls.

The techniques used are from watching the wonderful Kate Crane's dvd's,  I was inspired to have a go myself, I love the bright colours and way everything pop's off the page.

The little castle is a charm I took the ring off, it just added a little something to the page.  Some of stamped rings on the page are highlighted in gold paint,  and the little dots in white are from a uniqlo pen. 

The word ART, is stamped with flitterglu, and foiled with 'peacock feathers' from Indigoblu.

Here are two of the internal pages.

 

 These pages are similar to the cover, with bubble wrap stamping, backgrounds, doodling, stamping with household objects, and finger painting.  They are blank and ready for me to add journalling when I am ready to.

If you haven't tried it since you were a child, finger painting is one of the most relaxing ways to get lost in your craft (and the cheapest!)

I thought I would enter this for the 'Colour' challenge over at 'Simon Says Stamp & Show'

If you fancy having a go, you can get Kate's dvd's here:

I know I had fun!

Best Wishes,

Nikki
 

Torn and Tattered. .

Over at Craft Stamper Magazine there is a new 'Take It, Make It' challenge, where you can win fab prizes and if you win, see your work in the magazine!  The inspiration for this months challenge is by Helen Chilton, and it's her Terrific Tearing article which is on page 78 of the May issue.

I immediately sprung to life when I got my copy, as there's nothing more fun than a bit of ripping and tearing to make you feel great, especially if it's allowed!

This is my finished card for the challenge, it uses Papermania Kraft Basics 12 x 12 papers, and Papermania Urban Stamps (Bird Print).  The number's paper is called Mackenzie by Kanban, and was from the lovely Pink Tulip Creations.  The embellishments are all from Indigoblu (cogs, wire heart).  I have used Tim Holtz Distress ink in Black Soot around the edges of my torn paper.  And the glitter is from http://www.glittermagic.co.uk/, it's anti-static and a really lovely glitter to use, it doesn't stick to the stuff you don't want it to! 

I stamped the central image on white cardstock, and distressed it slightly.  The frame was torn, and I added a peeled back 'door' with fastening.  The cardstock is all distresssed, the flower's are printed with music from the same stamp set, and the main large flower is hand torn and layered.

There is still plenty of time to enter as the competition has only just started, and you have two months to enter, so pop across to Craft Stamper and have a go yourself!

Best Wishes,

Nikki xx
 

Happy Accidents!

Hi all,

I just wanted to share this little birdhouse with you, and the process I went through to get it looking like it does now.  I love the saying 'There are no mistakes in Art', as it is so true!

I'm not the neatest of crafters, have been known to drop my inkpad face down on my work, or get ink up my arms then lean on something, but it just goes to show that you can make something of your mistakes, or 'Happy Accidents' as they are known in crafting.

After painting with gesso, (Gee So Good) I mixed my own green acrylic paint colour, which actually started off more like a luminous yellow.  So that was the first layer.  I then added some white to the green, and painted again.

I used the fabulous Kroma Crackle on the roof, which goes on clear and dries white.  This toned down the green beautifully, so I realised I needed to do the rest of the house again, so mixed some gesso with water, and painted over it for a fourth time.

I used IndigoBlu's Crackle stamp, in Memento London Fog ink, to add extra distress to the sides and front.  I then stamped the sentiment in Stayzon on the front RIGHT (yes, the right), of the birdhouse).  I didn't press hard enough....

Have you seen my handmade flowers? .  . . I did buy some paper flowers, which are then stamped with text script, and distressed, but the red circular large flower's are handmade, just by taking three circles of card, making each slightly smaller, and torn round the edges.  If you crumple the card up, and put a brad through the centre, it makes a lovely flower.  And hardly costs a penny.  I distressed the edges of each petal on one flower, and left the other with just the text.  The brads are just some I had in my collection, but I had to get a little steampunk in there somewhere. . .

There is another 'accident' under the flower's on the roof, I stamped a postage stamp upside down. . .

The lovely lace border is one of my favourite stamps from Indigoblu and is in their latest collection.  I stamped it in brown ink, and distressed it with Forest moss distress ink.  The house is edged with Inka Gold, which is rubbed on, to give a gilded aged look.  I also used the forest moss distress ink to just rub over the Kroma Crackle again, and the sides of the house, to age it even more.

The swallow's stamp IS my favourite, it's on the 'Mr Darcy' set, and I use it quite a lot for a small stamp!

So you see, if you think you have made a mistake, or aren't happy with your project so far, just keep going, paint over it again, or make it into something different.  Just let your creativity take over.  You will learn from your mistakes, what mixes with what (and what doesn't!), and you will know what looks good.

Tomorrow's blog...... The wonky clock! 

Bye for now - Happy Crafting! 

Nikki
x

 

More pictures. .

Hi everyone, hope you all had a lovely Easter Sunday.  As I took pictures in the dark nearly last night, I thought I'd upload a couple more of the tag I made yesterday, so you can see the distress ink technique better and the resin.

 

Can you see the lovely pattern using Dettol spray on the distress ink left?  It was funny, I couldn't find my water spritzer and as I was working in the conservatory and not my workshop upstairs, (I seem to be spreading out around the house), and so the Dettol was the first thing I could find with a spray nozzle in the kitchen.  It sort of raised itself on the tag, and almost bleached out some of the colour. 

You can see the shine on the Ice Resin in the lovely fob bezel, and the detail in the tiny tag and key.

IndigoBlu are recommended distributors of Ice Resin in the UK, if you fancy having a go with it, it's a brilliantly clear resin, jewellers grade, and is easy to mix and to use - don't be frightened by the thought of using resins, it's not like it used to be.  It's very low odour, and non-toxic.  It's a tiny bit sticky when you spill it, but hey, we all make mistakes!

 

Well, hope you like the tag, I certainly had fun making it.  I have a little birdhouse project on the go at the moment, and will be back this week with progress pics, but I'm not quite sure what I want to do with it, I have the base colours down, but I've got a little stuck. 

 

 



 



I'll explain the techniques and products used soon!   More to come on this one, not sure what to stamp next. . .

 

Have fun whatever you are doing, see you soon. x

Springtime Tag

Well I'm always a bit slow on the uptake, so having decided to enter March's challenge for Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2013, I then decided to veer away from the design brief (ever so slightly. . ) as I've never been one to do as I'm told!

Actually it's my first time entering a Tag, and I have hardly any of the products that were listed, so I decided to do my own take on the theme of 'Springtime'.  I also thought that as I had missed January and February's challenge, I would make March's tag out of three tags.  Can you spot the third?

The large Ranger tag, and smaller tag on top are inked in Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers, and mustard seed and squeezed lemonade distress inks.  The beautiful lace border from IndigoBlu is then stamped on top of both tags in Peacock Feathers.  Both tags were distressed with a spray of dettol kitchen spray, I think it's my own new technique, I just couldn't find my water spritzer!  It gave a raised bubbly effect to the tag which I liked.

I stamped a free watch fob stamp from Craft Stamper Magazine, and printed off the words 'Spring Time' and inked around the edges in picked raspberry distress ink.

The seam binding ribbon was coloured with the same distress inks, just swiped across, then I sprayed the ribbon with dettol,and scrunched it up.  I added some vintage lace that I got in a Charity shop, and this gave a lovely feminine feel to the tag.  The moth is from the Grand Tour II stamp set from IndigoBlu, and is coloured by swiping distress inks in the same way as the other pieces.  He also has little wire antenna.

To top my tag, I used a large watch fob bezel from Artist Trading Post, and used distress inks again to colour the bird, sealed with mod podge, and set in jewellers grade resin.  This was left to dry for two days, and then a key, (and the tiny third tag), placed on top, sealed, and again set in resin, to give a layered effect.  I added the words 'Tick Tock' to the tiny tag in fineliner.

The edges of the tag are distressed with Black soot ink, which is a lovely soft black and gives definition.

Hope you like it, I think the colours are lovely, Peacock Blue has to be my favourite right now!

xx


 

Hi all,

It's lunchtime at the day job, and I've realised I've been very remiss in my posting's lately.  This is all about to change!  I had some fantastic news at the weekend, which I can hopefully share with you soon.  Exciting new products to show you for a wonderful company I now have the pleasure of working for in my 'spare' time! (All will be revealed soon.. .)

I have been busy as well, including joining the Design Team for the Monthly Challenge over at Creative Connections

This is a site for all crafter's to get together, and they run the wonderful online 'CraftFest' too, where you can set up a stall for a small fee, and take part.  You can find more information on that Here.
You can also shop to your hearts content, when the CraftFest runs, from March 21st to 24th 2013! 

If you would like to take part in the Monthly Craft Challenge, where you can enter your piece of work for fun, take a look Here.

The monthly Craft Challenge blog can be found Here and is all about February, and LOVE! 

You still have time to get your entries in, just pop across and join the site, if you need any help you can find me or any of the team member's over there, it's a friendly site with so much going on.

If you watch the blog over the coming week, I will add links to the site and other's like it, and will be back with my lovely news from the weekend soon!

The Merfly!

Well Happy New Year everyone, I've been busy letting my mind roam free for a while, and the result is. . . 'The Merfly'.  My first true mixed media Art piece using Polymer clay, Pan pastels, acrylic paints, Stamps, Flitterglu & Megaflakes from Indigo Blu at http://www.indigoblu.com, distress ink and much more.  My inspiration for The Merfly has to give credit to Christi Friesen at http://www.cforiginals.net

She has watch pieces, found objects, springs, brass headpins, and bead caps all set among the polymer clay.  She is dusted with Pearl-ex powder to add a lovely mermaid shimmer, and glazed to protect her and the artwork behind.

Am I going in a different direction?  I don't think so, just fulfilling what I have always wanted to do, design something from start to finish.  From this original piece of artwork, I will be making my own jewellery, using digitally altered parts of the image.

Print's will also be available- 'A Mermaid's Tale'  is the first in the series.  Resin Jewellery will be coming shortly, with added objects, of course!

The reason for posting this is to show how much fun working with different medium's is, in this case, mainly Polymer Clay.  If you want to know more about using Polymer Clay, please visit the British Polymer Guild Website at http://www.bpcg.org.uk where you will find lots of information, and regional groups to join if you would like to have a go yourself.

Now, where is my mind off to now I wonder. . . . . .

Best Wishes,
Nikki