Roses in Bloom

Here's a card with a Waltzingmouse stamp incorporating some cotton lace. Coloured the rose with Victorian Velvet Distress Ink....the ribbon underneath the lace co-ordinates with Victorian Velvet...that old rose colour which is a favourite of mine.

Leisure

This is the framed manuscript which accompanies yesterday's offering and I understand they hang together. Thank you to Liam who has permitted me to post these. Thanks to Bernie for the photo.

I did already have a scan and the top and bottom were scanned separately due to the size. Thought you might like to see the detail butI also wanted you to see the complete work in the frame. The script is Italic. The tree trunk and fence are cut out of painted cardstock. The 'leaves' are also from painted cardstock painstakingly cut out with curved scissors and pop dotted to sit out in relief....a long and fiddly job! The 'ground' is layers of painted mulberry paper adhered in strips to the background and the raggedy edges left to resemble rough grass.

Advice from Mr Ruskin

Today I am showing you a piece of calligraphy which was commissioned by a Professional for hanging in his waiting room.

It is a timely piece of advice which those of us who sell our craft should remember when setting our charges. Yes, our head tells us it is right but our hearts don't always agree. How do you set your charges? Do you add up the cost of your materials and then add your time which you have set at $? or £? per hour? Keeping a timesheet is a great thing if you are going to set a charge. It will surprise you sometimes just how long it takes to complete a project.

It was written on smooth watercolour paper, Fabriano Artistico, after I had colour washed the background with a natural sponge. Natural sponges are the best for this kind of sponging...they are so soft they give a great result. Synthetic sponges don't have the same effect at all.I then photocopied some money notes (desperately trying to avoid the numbers on the notes), cut out the £ sign and made the slots in the bottom of the paper to slide the money through.

The Art Gallery I do some lettering for (www.galleryone.co.uk) framed this piece and of course the right frame really compliments any art.

WMS Sketch Challenge

Here is my card for this challenge.

It has a cream hammer base...the next layer has been stamped around the edges with Faux Fun 'lacy bookmark' (as I call it). Stamped the corners with the point of it, masked them and then stamp the straight sides. Then stamped the little leaf from Faux Vintage Circles in the centre and give them a lift with some diamante. The next layer with the aperture is edged with velvet ribbon (drat one side is crooked). The label is from Stampington's 'Paris' embossed in midnight black powder. The sentiment is from Papertrey Scattered Showers - the only one I could find to fit the space...and finally the silver filigree embellishment replaces a button....a black button looked too dull for this.

My thanks to Bernie for sending me a plethora of photos to choose from. This is the first time I've ever used a sketch...it really does make me think....and when you look at all the cards on display isn't it amazing just how many different cards you can get from one sketch.

A Wee Irish Cottage.....

When searching through my pictures I came across this one of a display at our Harvest Service - and I'm sure those of you who frequent the WaltzingMouse site will immediately associate this with Claire's little cottage....the display stands on an old hand cart which would have been in use many many years ago, indeed I remember when a child patiently waiting for the post man to come on Christmas morning and hoping he would have a parcel for me on his red painted cart - it was just like this one...there never was a parcel! They'd all been contained in my Grannies big long black stocking which was tied to the bedpost and probably held an orange in the toe, a box of Maltesers (sweets) a pair of Ladybird pj's (they were lovely and warm as they had a fleecy lining) and more than likely there would be a doll my Mother would have made from knitting etc....my older sisters can correct me if I'm wrong.

A Card Sample

Just thought I would post a card I made possibly last year. It was for a wedding in Spain. It had a neutral base card....then I interwove cream and white ribbon on another layer of card....added a simple bow and wrote their names on more card cut out to fit the frame of the embellishment...think that's an Anna Griffin embellishment. It's a very simple card but it takes quite a lot of time to weave the ribbons and get them into some sort of pleasing form.

A Walk in the Sperrin Mountains

The weather was great for a walk yesterday - light breeze and some sunshine....Lough Fea is an important resevoir in the Sperrin Mountains and it is a beautiful area. It is about 10 minutes drive from Cookstown where we live....a path has been created around it and it is a popular place to walk. The walk is about 4 km long and there are all sorts of little twists and turns on it to add interest. It also has a weather station there and if you live in the U.K. you will often hear the name 'Lough Fea' mentioned and it's lowish temperatures in the wintertime. Our Grandchildren love to go there and throw stones into the water...there is a small play area and a picnic area too. When we were younger we used to cut turf (peat) around this lake and we used to spend a whole day there bringing our food with us and how good that food and tea tasted after working hard in the fresh air. Nowadays very little turf is cut to protect the bogland. We noticed yesterday that we couldn't hear any larks as they were an almost permanent feature when we were there years ago. It is a very peaceful place and one feels absolutely renewed and refreshed after a walk there. These photos were taken last Autumn.