JUST US CHICKENS – BACKGROUND AND HEADER SETS

I've just put a new background and header set onto Blogology:

JUST US CHICKENS - mad, bad, dangerous to know...

Just Us Chickens - 2-col background and header set

and the Just Us Chickens 3-col background and header set

For Easter, or just for chicken lovers...

HAPPY PINK SATURDAY - COLOUR SPLASH EFFECT

Well, how fast the weekend comes around. It’s Easter almost… the clocks go forward in the UK (Sunday) so Spring is officially here.


Being in holiday mood, it’s time for lollies and ice cream…

 Image from Photobucket

Image from Photobucket

Isn’t that the most delicious lolly you ever saw? I’d eat it just for the colour. (Does anyone remember strawberry Mivvi lollies, with the ice cream in the middle?)

And here’s one I did:

I’m totally in love with this Colour Splash effect, hope you are too… if you are, here is how to do it automatically in Photobucket.

Other graphics packages should achieve similar effects too.

I hope you have fun with this!




Don’t forget to visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to see all the other Pink Saturday posts!

STORAGE TOTE SOLUTION

I just saw this brilliant idea! How many of you have this scrapbooker's tote, but aren't all that happy with it?  Dymphie at Papieren Avonturen has come up with the perfect solution to turn it from this (pink, floppy):

 Photo copyright Papieren Avonturen

to this! 

Photo copyright Papieren Avonturen

Dymphie's tutorial shows you how to make a SOLID drawer (using greyboard/chipboard/book board), which strengthens up the whole structure - and personalised it!

So if you aren't a 'pink' person, or it doesn't go with your studio decor, you can colour it exactly how you like it. I might just buy one of these now.

FUN WITH PLASTER - DOILIES

Marianne at Songbird (I've menitoned her wonderful blog before) has created this wonderful idea which I really must try for myself:

By using plaster with old doilies, she has created wonderful ... vases? containers? tea light holders? Call them what you will, they are just magical!

Click on this link for the full (delightful - and easy) tutorial.

Aren't they just magical?

SUNSHINE AWARD FOR CREATIVITY & POSITIVITY!

Oh happy day! Laure from Painted Thoughts has just given me this great Sunshine Award for creativity & positivity! I'm thrilled - this has totally made my weekend.

So I get to hand this on to 12 blogs I love - that might just be new to you, so I highly recommend you take a look!

In no particular order...

Nancy at Linens & Laurel - who promised us all a new project every day this year - and has kept it up! Phenomenal (I know I couldn't keep this up for a week!).

Blanca at Magic Moonlight - who has her own blog and Magic Moonlight freebie images. Tons of lovely vintage images for you. Blanca is so generous - I don't know where she finds them all!

Sophie at My Cup of Milk Tea - a young Chinese lady who designs the most exquisite free blog backgrounds and headers. An undiscovered treasure, in my opinion.

CC at Lace'n'Ribbon Roses - because she is just so enthusiastic about her favourite craft, so you have to love it too.

Tina at Beansie Babbles - because she also is so enthusiastic about her favourite craft (crochet) and even writes her own patterns! Anyone who shares the love like these two ladies deserves an award.

Delicious Scraps - wonderful elements, and commercial use too! A must for scrapbookers and digital artists.

Deb aka The Scrappin' Cop - a Photoshop genius, great brushes & textures: tutorials as well!

Glamour Bomb - who deserves an award for merely existing (never mind she does the most amazing videos etc and her blog is To Die For).

Carmi at Carmi's Art/Life World for gorgeous cards and other artwork, and great tutorials.

Sugar at Lipsticks , Lace & Lolly Dolls - the most amazing photographic site. Stunning. Check out her other blogs as well.

Violetta at VM Creation- the most exquisite fashion illustrations and designs, beautifully made into some fabulous creations. Her other blog is lovely too.

Blondie at Blonde Episodes for wonderful photos, great bios and great research and attention to detail. If you love old films, you have to read her blog.

Enjoy!

PINK SATURDAY - THANK HEAVENS ALBUM

As always, I'm stumped for something pink to show on Pink Saturday (it's so not my colour, but I am a great believer in getting out of my comfort zone, and pink is so warm and friendly.)

So this week I decided to toot my own horn and show a little handmade album I've made: a very girlie Brag Book for a mother, grandmother, aunt etc.

 All photos copyright Susie Jefferson

A sweet little A5 handbag-sized Japanese stab-bound album decorated inside and out: the overall size is 15cm x 10.5cm (5.75in x 4.25in) with 12 pages of marbled pink card, all bound with pink organza ribbon.

The back cover

 Inner cover

 Showing pages

Another view of the front cover

Hope you like it! (I just put it into my Etsy shop - only took me about 2 hours to list it).

My blog of choice this week is U Create - with some wonderful make-its, including shaker style boxes, a twisted fabric flower drum light shade and all sorts of lovely stuff. Do take a look!




Don’t forget to visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to see all the other Pink Saturday posts!

TRANSPARENT BACKGROUNDS FOR IMAGES & TEXT

I had an email from an online friend, very frustrated because her images wouldn't show up as transparent background. So I've written a new tutorial to tell you how to do it.

Too often, Blogger turns the backgrounds white - so I've explained how and why, and the solution!

 This tutorial also shows you a down-and-dirty way to extract an image from its background, and also how to layer multiple images and text.

I hope it helps!

CAKE PIN CUSHIONS

The DIY Dish is up and running, and here is the very first brilliant project: an easy-peasy no-sew cake pincushion in felt, plus a variation using fabrics (very simple sewing).  

Aren't these fun?



Here's the link for the downloadable pdf with all the instructions (and more pictures).

If you go to the blog and enter their giveaways before 30th March, there are two Janome sewing machines and 10 pin cushion kits up for grabs! Open to non-US as well (but you do have to be over 18 years old).

Fantastic, no? And by the way, the twins are not related to Marie Osmond!

I'm definitely making one (or two) - so much better than the cracked plastic container with a bit of chewed-up sponge on top!

TWO NEW BACKGROUNDS AND HEADER SETS

Herewith two new sets of freebie blog backgrounds, variations on a theme. Very shabby chic, very minimal, lots of distressing. I hope you enjoy them!

NEW ENGLAND BLUE

This comes in both 2-column and 3-column sizes, with matching headers. Click on the link to get the codes.

NEW ENGLAND BEIGE

Even more minimal: taupes, beiges, creams and greys. In 2-column and 3-column sizes with matching headers. Go here for the codes.

CHRISTINE'S MAKEOVER

I've just read the most wonderful post about a blog makeover I did for Chistine at Christine's Beadworks, and was so touched that I just had to share! Click on the link to read the full post.

What a glowing testimonial - thank you so much.

A HECTIC PINK SATURDAY

This week my post is short and sweet! It's been a very hectic week, and I thought I'd be too late...

By Vermhelo

I found this little sketch online - I saved it with the name of the artist, and now don't know what site I found it on, duh! I've included it because it's pink and it's charming and quirky and I wish I could loosen up more to draw like that.

By Vermhelo

And a charming little bee - which I've been as busy as...

And some coffee quotes, as I’ve definitely over-dosed on caffeine this week….



 "A cup of coffee shared with a friend is happiness tasted and time well spent." Anonymous

"Behind every successful woman...is a substantial amount of coffee."
Stephanie Piro

"Black as hell, strong as death, sweet as love." 
Turkish proverb.

"Chocolate, men, coffee--some things are better rich."

 Anonymous

"Coffee: creative lighter fluid." 

Floyd Maxwell 

"Coffee falls into the stomach ... ideas begin to move, things remembered arrive at full gallop ... the shafts of wit start up like sharp-shooters, similes arise, the paper is covered with ink."

Honor de Balzac

Here's a lovely blog you may not have seen before: Christine's Beadworks.
Christine does lovely work: very intricate beading, as you can see from the examples in her header -  and also very interesting bios on artists I otherwise might not have heard of. (I'm a little prejudiced as I just finished her background and header). Do go and take a look - and say Hi from me.




Don’t forget to visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to see all the other Pink Saturday posts!

PINK SATURDAY MUSINGS

Well folks, it’s Pink Saturday again, which I always enjoy – visiting other blogs and looking at pretty things.

Unfortunately, I have had a busy week so once again am falling down on the pretty stuff… so it’s time for a cup of tea and a sit down, and look at all the photos.

All images from weheartit

As Spring is just around the corner (the local birds are singing fit to bust and gathering lots of nesting material) I thought I’d share some gorgeous baby pictures.

All images from weheartit

Worthy of a magazine. Beautiful photograph!

I love this one: what a sweet little face

Adorable, and the bow is PINK!

The Aaaah Factor.

Little Mr Innocent (wonder what just got spilled or broken?). I love the expression.

And finally, this one below, because it amused me – a lot!

I promise to visit as many blogs as I can – I still need to take frequent breaks from the screen due to my eye, so please forgive me if I don’t get round to visit everybody.

Don’t forget to visit Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to see all the other Pink Saturday posts!

NEW BACKGROUNDS

I just put a suite of new backgrounds and headers onto Blogology: Vintage Yellow Roses.

You get a choice of 2-column OR 3-column backgrounds - each size in a choice of both Dark or White: something vintage, Victorian in feel, but not grunge-y or distressed re finishes.

 
You also get a nice shaped header for each size. I though it would make a nice change. (Follow the links above for coding and full installation instructions).

I hope you like them!

MAKE A HANDBAG OUT OF A BOOK

Copyright Hungry Panda Clothing

If, like me, you are a bit of an altered book artist, you are always looking for new projects. I just happened on this – a fabulous tutorial from Annie Shao of Hungry Panda Clothing:two styles of handbag, one with handles, one a clutch bag!

How fabulous is that! If you’ve got great covers but horrible pages (water damaged, mildewed etc) then get rid of the page block and turn your covers into a bag!

Here is the full tutorial – including how to make the lining. I’ve seen similar in various art mags but this is the best tutorial I’ve seen – great step-by-step photographs, and very clearly explained. And not too much sewing! (I wonder if I could cheat and use glue? Iron-on tape? Rivets or eyelets?)

For an even more retro look, I’ll be looking in haberdashery shops to see if you can still get those bamboo handles – and I’ll also be haunting charity shops, garage sales, jumble sales and car boots for crappy old handbags with great handles. And buckles, buttons and other trims for the clutch bag.
For anyone not so convinced about the old book cover look – does anyone remember Cosmopolitan magazine’s great reader offer (must be around 15 years ago – that’s really showing my age, lol) of a magazine cover as a clutch bag? That really did look something… mine was Vogue. So you could use a strong PVA or gel medium – or even Xyron – to adhere the magazine cover over your book cover base, then go over that with clear sticky-back plastic to make it waterproof, then go ahead with the rest of the tutorial. Polka dot fabric, retro 50s prints… very Cath Kidston!

Here are some links for more bags in different styles:

Copyright Mylinda at Chipwrapperpurse

• http://www.chipwrapperpurse.blogspot.com/
• http://candywrapperpurse.blogspot.com/2007/08/chip-wrapper-purse.html
• http://familycrafts.about.com/library/projects/blmagpurse.htm
• http://www.dollheads.com/crafts/?p=17
• http://diyfashion.about.com/od/diyaccessories/ss/Placemat.htm
• http://diyfashion.about.com/od/diybagsandpurses/tp/BreakfastBag.htm

A rather long-winded but very thorough YouTube tutorial for a fold-over clutch:

TIP:

When sewing through plastic make sure you use large stitches: nylon thread is best. If you find it difficult to sew, try placing a piece of tissue paper over the plastic (or even tissue paper top and bottom, and lower your feed dogs) and sew through it all. Then tear the tissue away from the stitching when you are done!

You can tell I’m feeling very inspired…

ENJOY!

MAKE A HANDBAG OUT OF A BOOK

Copyright Hungry Panda Clothing

If, like me, you are a bit of an altered book artist, you are always looking for new projects. I just happened on this – a fabulous tutorial from Annie Shao of Hungry Panda Clothing:two styles of handbag, one with handles, one a clutch bag!

How fabulous is that! If you’ve got great covers but horrible pages (water damaged, mildewed etc) then get rid of the page block and turn your covers into a bag!

Here is the full tutorial – including how to make the lining. I’ve seen similar in various art mags but this is the best tutorial I’ve seen – great step-by-step photographs, and very clearly explained. And not too much sewing! (I wonder if I could cheat and use glue? Iron-on tape? Rivets or eyelets?)

Click on the Read More link below to read the rest of the post (more links and YouTube tutorials):


For an even more retro look, I’ll be looking in haberdashery shops to see if you can still get those bamboo handles – and I’ll also be haunting charity shops, garage sales, jumble sales and car boots for crappy old handbags with great handles. And buckles, buttons and other trims for the clutch bag.

For anyone not so convinced about the old book cover look – does anyone remember Cosmopolitan magazine’s great reader offer (must be around 15 years ago – that’s really showing my age, lol) of a magazine cover as a clutch bag? That really did look something… mine was Vogue. So you could use a strong PVA or gel medium – or even Xyron – to adhere the magazine cover over your book cover base, then go over that with clear sticky-back plastic to make it waterproof, then go ahead with the rest of the tutorial. Polka dot fabric, retro 50s prints… very Cath Kidston!

Here are some links for more bags in different styles:

Copyright Mylinda at Chipwrapperpurse

• http://www.chipwrapperpurse.blogspot.com/
• http://candywrapperpurse.blogspot.com/2007/08/chip-wrapper-purse.html
• http://familycrafts.about.com/library/projects/blmagpurse.htm
• http://www.dollheads.com/crafts/?p=17
• http://diyfashion.about.com/od/diyaccessories/ss/Placemat.htm
• http://diyfashion.about.com/od/diybagsandpurses/tp/BreakfastBag.htm

A rather long-winded but very thorough YouTube tutorial for a fold-over clutch:

TIP:

When sewing through plastic make sure you use large stitches: nylon thread is best. If you find it difficult to sew, try placing a piece of tissue paper over the plastic (or even tissue paper top and bottom, and lower your feed dogs) and sew through it all. Then tear the tissue away from the stitching when you are done!

You can tell I’m feeling very inspired… I’m also posting this on my Techniques page as an easier-to-find permanent archive.

ENJOY!