I've Been Painting!

No, this isn't it! When I paint I can't resist taking pictures of the paints on the palette or, in this case, during the clear up stage on the laminated plastic that I was using for a palette.  Sometimes these photos end up looking better than what I am painting, lol.

The painting I was doing today was the first exercise in a free online course that I'm doing run by Strathmore (link here).  It's an exercise in layers so even though my painting looks kind of finished, it still has more work to be done to it.

It started out as misted stencilled items:

The objects on the left were what were suggested on the course but I hadn't got any tapestry cloth so rummaged around in our cellar to find some alternatives. 

Next came some paint doodling:

 I'm tied with the courses I do, in some ways I want to use exactly what the tutor is using but on the other hand I think I should be more creative and do it my own way.  And this is what I did next - the tutor, Traci Bautista, used feathers for the next part which I didn't have, so I painted on some swirls instead. 

The idea of this stage was to add acrylic paint on top of our stencils and around. 

And the next stage was to add some oil pastel doodling:

Which is where it is at now....awaiting the next layer.  Not quite sure what form that will take on mine yet....

To see how its 'meant' to look, see the promotional video for the course on youtube here. 

Thanks for stopping by today and for any comments,

Nicky

DIY Solving of a UK Electrical Problem

Is this a familiar scene in your house?:

Boxes of unidentified wires and plugs, that may or may not have been put away tidily.  Some of the plugs may even be for things you no longer own.

Or maybe an extension with numerous electrical plugs in the sockets that all look remarkably similar to its neighbours?

This Christmas I found myself being the one to unplug the lights of the christmas tree and each time I did it I had to stop and think, 'which of the plugs was it?'

I remembered a long time ago that I bought some stickers for some of our plugs to label them (check out the microwave one on the right):

 

...and thought what a useful idea it was, but I don't think they are made any more.  So tonight, using Word on my computer I made myself some (none-picture)  labels:

I printed them out onto sticker paper and am now in the process of  cutting them out and sticking them onto all the plugs in our home.   They are going to be so useful for us and amongst other uses should stop us pulling out the wrong plug or will help us work out which plug is the one we need to charge up our mobiles.  I'm also going to use them in my craft room on all the assorted electicals I have there, like my heat gun and laminator.

(A useful project tip: When using this printer sticker paper, it is very helpful to use a craft knife to separate the front and back - it saves prevents the air from going blue! ☺).

Thanks for stopping by today,

Nicky

Happy New Year

 (Taken from the TV)

Hope you had a great Christmas, we did and I'm feeling really optimistic and excited about starting a new creative year afresh.  I can't wait to be even more adventurous in my creative endeavours and taking you along with me for the ride.  I've got myself signed up to a few free (yay!) online courses and am itching to get started on them in the next few days.  I do like doing my own crafts but I also like being given prompts to 'jumpstart' my own ideas ( ♥ Pinterest!)


I got a few books for Christmas (admitedly, I chose them on my Amazon wishlist) and they are so me!   I practically squealed when I was reading this first one:

(Amazon image)

 The Art of iPhonegraphy by Stephanie C Roberts (£9.99, Waterstones)

As regular blog readers will know, I love photography and this book is packed with creative themes for subjects to take with lots of tips and suggestions for apps for the iPhone. 

The second book I have got to show you is this:

(Google image)

Print Workshop by Christine Schmidt

(Amazon £8.84 at time of writing)

I haven't had chance to go through this book yet but it looks to have some great printing projects (image transfer, tshirt printing ideas..) that I can get started on in the New Year. 

The last book isn't a craft/art/photography book!!.. but I love it!  It came recommended by the ever cheerful, Yorkshire based, colourful crochet blogger, Lucy from Attic 24 and its about "How to cope with the mental and emotional challenge of keeping a home"

(Google Image)

'Housework Blues A Survival Guide' by Danielle Raine

I SO needed this! And my husband has said it was the best £7.99 he's ever spent, lol.  It's even getting me, an eternal couch potato, happily reaching out for the vacuum cleaner and tackling my ironing mountain.   It's part of the reason I haven't been online recently, I've been attending to housework! Gasp!  Even I'm amazed at the change its already done to me - for the better!

* * * * *

Finally today,

I would like to wish

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR
TO ALL MY READERS

See you next year,

Nicky

Merry Christmas!

I would like to wish everyone who has come by today (stop, have a good creative look around ☺) and to all my followers (that celebrate) a very..

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

See you back here very soon! 

Nicky

xxx

A Simple Last Minute Decoration

I made a version of this easy-to-make decoration last year and enjoyed making it so much that I decided to make another one this year.

Detail:

You just need a small display unit - this one is a thimble case (£2, charity shop) and assorted small christmassy items that you simply place into each of the boxes.

For a more permanent arrangement you could paint the case and stick all the items down 

..which is what I did last year:

 ...or you can just lean it on a dresser, mantlepiece or shelf  (like the top one).  Simples!

Thanks for looking and for any comments,

qwiksave

December Daily Days 14 and 17

Apologies for my mini absence in bloging world, we have had a family bereavement, my husband's grandmother, who you may remember I made a 90th birthday scrapbook for a couple of years ago.

Christmas preparations have also eaten into my crafting time and made me behind on my December Daily, which is why my pages are a bit out of synch. 

Today I made this page:

 

Which is about the party my husband and I went to on Saturday night.   And no, those shoes aren't mine!  I didn't take my camera with me so I found and used this picture from google.  The theme of the party was glitter and we did dress up, but there are no pics of that, sorry!

I also made a page about the collage that I made in my last post:

My December Daily is coming together quite well now and I have got pictures that I can use for the missing pages so will be playing 'catch up' now, but meanwhile here is a shot of the completed pages that I have made so far:

Hope your christmas preparations are going well.

Thanks for looking and for any comments,

qwiksave

Christmas Collage

Last year I made this collage using old cards, wrapping paper, stickers and my own handmade christmas embellishments:

 (must get round to getting a frame for it!...)

So this year I thought I'd make another one:

(which does have a frame)

It's not quite so busy though and I kind of like it like this - but am also thinking whether it needs more? 

 ..or maybe not....?

Thanks for looking and for any comments,

qwiksave

December Daily Day 13 - Christmas Past

Aww, what a cute little girl, absolutely delighted at getting her christmas presents:

Yes, that is me, third from the left with that big beam on my face, I loved getting presents (still do, lol!).  For Day 13 I went back in time to look at pictures from my parent's old photo album.

Daily page:

and detail:

I haven't stuck the photo down yet, I plan to use some traditional photo corners when I can find them in my messy craft room!

Thanks for looking and for any comments,

qwiksave

December Daily Day 12 - Tree Topper

Have you got your tree up yet?  If so, what have you got on the top?  Betcha you haven't got the same as us!

My eldest boy at 11 decided that this year we were not having a fairy!  This is what he chose instead:

 

Yep! It's a soft toy turkey!

He even climbed up and put it on himself.  I'm not convinced it's going to stay there but just for now...!

So, it is the subject of yesterday's December Daily:

...which is another shabby chic/grungy look page. 

Detail:

Thanks for looking and for any comments,

qwiksave

December Daily Pages 10 and 11

I do believe I owe you a look at some more of my recent pages of my December Daily Album.

This one was to document the decorations we made at the recycling centre:

I made it using recycled/reused items too -  the backing cardboard was from a packet of german chocolate decorations.  It had a cut out tree with a piece of cellophane so I used that to frame the photo of my son's snowman decoration (I won't forget my husband's clever stuff, just seeing this page will remind me!)  The rest of the materials were found objects that fitted with the theme.

Detail picture:

..including a milk bottle top!

For yesterday's page, we went into the attic and got our tree decorations down:

I took some photos of the decorations in their boxes as they weren't on the tree then - we put them on today - so that will be the subject of tomorrow's page.

Detail:

I wasn't liking this page until I added a bit lot of washi tape - it is fabulous stuff.  I love the way that you can still see what is underneath.  

Thanks for looking today and for any comments,

qwiksave