"Dream" card

Here is another card made last week. I made this for Celeste and this time I used Radiant Rain daubers, Distress Stain black dauber, Dylusions spray on gauze and Perfect Pearls Mist on the gauze. The leaves or my "Wings" and the metal vine are coloured with Gilders paste. Man I love that image!!

 From the side.

I have two days off from tomorrow so hope to get playing some more :o)

hugs

Annette In Oz

Steampunk card plus Cream and Black Cards

When I was in New Zealand Joan gave me a book of anaglypta wall paper. I had tried for ages to get some here but it was sssoo darn expensive just for a piece so to receive this book as a gift took my breath away. It is full of heavily textured pages and you just want to run your hand all over it. While the house was mine today I made my way to my desk and pulled out a sheet of it. It has a slightly cream look so I decided to make some more cream and black cards using the anaglypta as the base. The image is from a Steampunk page I got from Altered Pages. I chose Martha as her name as she was surrounded by gears and cogs like the Martha Trizzy befriended in the Bunngings shop in New Zealand.

I love the texture all over this card

 Sing like nobody can hear...well its the only time I sing as nobody would want to hear me LOL. I added some black and cream stitching for a textured look to this one

 and dance like nobody can see was  the last one. This gorgeous bling trim was from a shop in New Zealand. It hasn't photographed well but the flowers at the bottom are silver glass like and I applied some Kindy Glitz to the center of each one plus some on her wings.

My room will be totally mine again from the 2nd of December...that's 11 days, 2hours, 10minutes and 5seconds away...but who is counting ROFL. Carlia and Cory will take the bed from the room with them. I'm hoping to get another solid table to go in there then so I can have a separate work area for jewellery making and the other for paper crafts. I'll be making another etched metal house to give away once I have my room back...maybe as a hanging necklace or maybe not...maybe round or maybe not....thinking thinking thinking...

Hugs

Annette In Oz

Steampunk card-Party Animal

It had been struggling to get free for months and months...taunting me knowing people had been in my art room since May and it would not be mine again till December...it niggled at me as I passed my art room and shot me come hither looks and whined...."come and play with your inks and metal"..."come in and sit at your desk".....it crept into my mind as I fell asleep at night and was still there first thing in the morning....niggling, nagging and begging....and today....the 49th year to this day I have been on this precious Earth I gave in to my creative muse. So while my daughter and her boyfriend were at work I piled their belongs on one side of the room...and the Party Animal card was set free LOL.
The man in the image just looked so serious I thought underneath he must be a party animal. The watch dial at the upper left does move and can be placed right over his eye.

 The next few show the card textures closer. Just had to get a little light bulb in there at the bottom right.

 I think the muse just busted loose and could not be contained any longer due to the wonderful presents I got from Grant today for my birthday. I'm now the much anticipated owner of a Pepe circle punch set at last.

I also received a wonderful dapping block set...I have ideas already for some etched circular projects.

 I also got some Gilders Paste ! Wahoo. Grant also gave me some perfume. What a sweetheart he is.

The kids gave me some chocolates(so they can eat them LOL) and a gorgeous jade and silver necklace. So along with my creative burst, a yummy grilled Barramundi meal at the local tavern for dinner and my most excellent presents I have had a lovely birthday indeed. I hope the person who is receiving Party Animal loves it too.

hugs

Annette In Oz

Hand Made Cards

Oh my I got so side tracked with visitors for last few months that I forgot 2 peoples birthdays. Here are a few more cards made recently. The first one I have used some of my grungy bg I made a few days ago. Image is from Creative Individuals. Gail Hart sells their stuff in Oz. Missed this persons birthday by a week!. It will be in the mail tomorrow.

 A closer view.

 We then got  a call from Grant's Mum and she let us know we forgot Grant's nephew Ryan's birthday as well. So I made a lovely messy bluish grungy bg.

 Then I added this sad or sorry looking boy. His crown looks "whole" in real life.I used some mica powder on it and the light isn't reflecting off the whole crown when I take a photo. I'm a month late with this one!!!. It too will be in the mail tomorrow.

 Closer view.

 This one I actually made and sent on time LOL. It was for Jen Crossley whom I also made the friendship necklace for.

It was very daunting making Jen a card and necklace as she is humungously talented herself. I even managed to send this one early LOL. Hope I do better during the year with birthdays.
hugs
Annette In Oz

Getting My grunge On

I'm working on several projects at once on my desk. As a part dries on one I work on another. In amongst the growing mess I quickly made a 50th birthday card for my brother Steven. The image is him at 7 months old.I adjusted the colour in Photoshop. Here is the original.

I got all ink and paint stained doing the next part but I loved it LOL. I made a grungy background for the image to go on. I was reminded about making a grungy bg when I visited Chris Arlingtons blog post.

Add some stained gauze, some cogs, a wing, dictionary words for "brother", a fuse, an old tape measure and a party hat and tada

Better get it in the post tomorrow...only a week late but better late then never.
hugs
Annette In Oz

Silversmithing,WIP and Mail

I'm slowly getting back my Mo and Jo and just in time I think. Of course though now I tidied, decluttered and moved rooms with my stash I can't find a bloomin thing LOL. Silversmithing classes and a relo invasion from the East Coast have been keeping me on the non stop go but I have been getting in my new art space a little bit...slowly making a lovely untidy mess on my desk YEHA. In silversmithing I have now made a pair of textured sterling silver hoop ear-rings to match my cuff and ring....sorry my photos are crap though...must learn how to take better shots of shiny stuff!!. This Wednesday is my last class and I'll be making 2 twisted wire bracelets...I think LOL.

I also ordered a few things that have been arriving in the last week...some new stamps for etching from Jen C

and Kerin Gale's book...plus doing 2 of her on line classes...her work and book reminds me of Stephanie Lee's work and book Semi Precious Salvage. It was Stephanie Lee's book that got me making nesty jewellery and where I first read about etching metal.

In Kerin's book and her classes I'm learning how to make texture with epoxy clay, silicone moulds and resin....right up my ally *grin*. Of course I then needed some vintage finery to get some cool texture from. I have ordered 5 of these Ambrotype photos in ornate tooled leather cases. 2 have come and I adore these...the images are on glass, with clear glass on top and they have gorgeous embossed copper around them. They come in wonderful leather cases and are from the 1850's

Can't wait till the other three arrive. Last night I used some Pinkysil I got from Jen C's shop and made some moulds from the covers. I then tried some old Liquid Glass resin that had gone amber and some ice resin in the moulds. Today I'll try some polymer clay in the moulds....then who knows....

 The amber small resin at top right has small bubbles I forgot to burn off with my butane so when I use that one I'll just cut the oval out!


                                               
In amongst loosing a half day with shopping for Carlia's 21st birthday (on the 18th June) yesterday and mucking around with the moulds and resin I also got Carlia's 21st card made...she doesn't look in here so I am safe to share this today. The image is Carlia as a toddler.

Hope she likes it and her gifts. Time to hang the washing out and then I have the rest of the day to myself to get into my room and mess it all up so I can find stuff again :o)
hugs
Annette In Oz

The Move Begins!!!

Well my big stash move has begun. I think I'll just drag it all into the spare room and then declutter (if I can LOL) as I find new spots for my stash to live in. I'm hopping to have a metal work section and a paperarts, paint and fabric areas. Well that is the plan. May have a few things to give away too yet :o).

I started this card for my very ill and much loved neice Lisa a few days ago. Lisa has three kids and is in her late 30's. She was diagnosed with acute myloid leukaemia a few weeks ago and will be in hospital for 6 months. At this stage they think it was too advanced when she was diagnosed and they can't cure her. So terribly sad. Her kids are 15, 13 and 6. As she is in another state and I can't visit her I thought I would make her a card. I was relocating my Stamping and Papercrafts mags on Mon and I sat on the floor for 2 hrs flicking thru some and came across a pull tab card I used to love to make. I used that for her card. It sits flat but opens to reveal the images in a shadow box effect. Shame I got glue on the right tab but I may cover that yet.
I used twinkling H2O's to paint the butterfly frame. I gave the butterflies a 3D effect by adding another stamped butterfly to the base frame ones and some wire antennae.

The tabs at the side slide to move the front stamped section up and away to either side and reveal the image underneath. The image is a gorgeous Gothic fairy stamped and then painted with water colour pastels.

Here is the image a bit closer.

Another find when moving stuff was a beaded crazy bracelet I made many years ago in a sea theme. I really loved making them and must try to make another once I'm settled in my new art space.

Off to move some more.

hugs

Annette In Oz

Pyramid Of Life

My days off have been filled with moving furniture as Grant paints the house room by room. The bathroom and toilet walls are now lagoon teal in colour. My soon to be craft room is a rich cream and these last 2 days Tim's room got painted a gorgeous sky blue. Next Saturday and Sunday Grant will paint our bedroom and after that I can claim the spare room at last and move my stash in. At the moment there are still cupboards and stuff everywhere in the lounge/dinning area where my art desk is. I've never really kept much in the way of paper crafts that I have made in the past and thought I would make myself a project to display in my new room when I move in. It took several days to get completed with all the other disruptions going on but I like the way it turned out.
I had some painted and Cuttlebug embossed backgrounds on my desk from a past project so used some as my backgrounds on my pyramid. My mind is still stuck on shrines I think as a simple triangle card got turned into a pyramid with removable little draws LOL. I could work on each triangle side while flat and then each draw and once all dry I simply popped the draws in place and glued the whole thing together. I'd been thinking about what I need in my life as a theme for this project. Not the have to haves like water or food but what I need for my heart and soul type of things. So one side was "I need creative ideas". Cogs, light bulbs, fuses and watch parts for time as well, were all incorporated into it.

 The lens can be moved up to see the contents of the draw underneath.

The bulb closer. It can be moved side ways or straight up and down.

 The ideas draw contents closer.

 and the lens covering the recess before the draw was put back in.

"I need love" side. Has a small bottle for my love potion number 9 mix, flowers, hearts and of course some cupids. The draw has a vintage couple embraced in a kiss and a tiny key. We all need a key to our hearts.



 The little love potion bottle closer.

 The love drawer contents closer.

The last side I chose "I need music". A troop of musicians filled my draw, notes, instruments and music scattered around.

Detail closer.

The music draw contents closer.

Probabaly wont be able to get inky for a fortnight now, till I have my stash moved. I'm looking forward to having my own space at last though so the wait is worth it. :o)

hugs

Annette In Oz