Tarty Burlap Birds Nests

Hello!

I took part in the handmade flower swap over at Your Paper Pantry last month-one I haven't taken part in before,and the challenge was to make shabby birds nests from burlap and lots of other bits-kind of like a magpie collection lol. I must say I struggled creatively with this one a bit (and the feeling of freshly trimmed burlap in ones clothes is akin to fresh cut hair :-/ ) but I got there in the end...I think! We had to do 3 sets of 3. 

I have no fingerprints left from burning them off with the glue gun,but here they are in all their shabby glory!

Bye bye birdie nests,have a safe trip State side :-)

A shabby Prim swap catch up

Bonjour!

I am slightly rubbish at remembering to blog-I'm sure I will get better (I AM getting better-my new job is ensuring that :-))So,I found these pics on my computer from a swap I took part in over at Your Paper Pantry,waaaay back in March. I signed up for the Shabby Chic Grab Bag Embellie swap and also,as I am completely obsessed with all things Primitive and Folk Art-y,I joined the new Prim swap over there. 

I took the stamped tags and flowers spots,which require five of each. I had seen a flower technique a while ago (I cant remember where)using strips of scalloped fabric to make shabby flowers. I LOVE the way these look! For mine I used bits of vintage linen,tulle,vintage pillowcases,burlap,antique doilies,and some very old Cath Kidston PJ's I had in my fabric stash forever,paper...I got so into it I just grabbed anything that I thought would look good,lol. I made the centers from some pearl earrings I picked up at a broken jewellery sale  

 This is how my five came out...

And a couple closer up

I had good feed back from the girls that received them,so I think they went down well :-)

Next up was the Stamped Tag swap-I always struggle with this one,as I find it very hard to JUST do stamping,lol. I used a few stamps from my fresh-through-the-door Unity KOTM and the script from a stamp I have had for a long time. I embossed the script over the rose stamp with clear semi mat powder,which I like the effect of on here and finished the tags using some of the seam binding I dyed whilst on a seam binding dying frenzy(I get gripped by these occasionally, frequently) and put some vintage glass beads onto the ends to add some weight.

And finally,onto the Primitive Swap. This was a one-on-one for a candle mat and we had to use thick felt and Prim colours,leaving a 4x4" space in the center for the candle to go on. I love embroidering,so jumped on this to use some of the designs buzzing around my head that I had seen on a Google search. It is made from a very old woolen blanket that had got felted,and again,has been loitering in my rather ominous looking fabric stash cupboard. I backed it with coarse burlap,for a truly feed-sack rustic look ;-)

The lovely Alease got mine,and sent me such a lovely message of gratitude :-) 

And I got a gorgeous one from Linda :-)

Back for more catch-ups soon!

Aaaaaannd I'm back!

Whew! What a lot to happen over the last few months. Moving is never easy or straightforward but we have now reached a sort of equilibrium and routine around the remaining boxes.

What have you missed make wise? Quite a bit really! I can't seem to go a single day without skulking up to my craft room to have a tinker,swiftly followed by the children :-/ And I can't seem to pass up the challenge of a swap,so I usually sign up for far too many,and then I was chosen to be a part of a design team with a weekly blog post. It is a wonder we haven't all starved and the house lays dusty and forgotten while I remain a hive of activity up in my eerie! I feel a photo montage moment is called for,starting with the annoying glitch way back with the Halloween bits I had been feverishly working on. So,without further ado and blabbering on,here is what I have been up to over the last few months....

HALLOWEEN

Yup,its THOSE hands! These were for a stickpin swap...

The tags for the bags....

One of the stickpins (I should have used longer pins-these babies just kept on growing down the shaft!)

The whole package :-) I hope customs liked them,hehehe

A stamped tag swap

AUTUMN  MAIL-ART SWAP

Front....
using Autumn Nights Glimmer Mist,the leaves are from a PTI set,the moon is a print from Retro Art Cafe and the old lady on a goose stamp is a random from a grab bag-I would love to know what set she is from!

And backs...
Using TCW Birch mask,Tim H Falling Leaves and feathers from a Stampendous set.

CHRISTMAS TAGS

A couple of Christmas tags for various family members...

These tags are made using the cutest Molly Blooms stamp EVER!

POSTCARD SWAP...

MINI ALBUM SWAP
These are my pages for a chunky mini album page swap(we had to do 9 pages)....I do not want to cut another snowflake for at least 8 months! ;-)

I made my first ever junk journal for a swap too (woah,that thing took OVER!) I will do a separate post for that,as there are loads of pages!
And then I was chosen to be a part of a Design Team over at Make The Day Special
which was a dream come true! I had been shopping there for a loooong time,saw the DT call and entered. And in a strange twist of fate,Emily the owner,asked me to stay on until the shop moved ownership in March,which I gladly accepted,and now..... I am the new owner! Whoop whoop! :-D 
So thats me all up to date. Big changes,lots of happy dances and great new beginnings :-)