Perching High

A poem by Robert Graves is my inspiration

for an altered playing card for my

Waddington Weekly.

Though, did I wish

I could soar through the open window

And perch on a branch above.

Dare to be yourself

I have been working on a few more projects,
using the collage sheets included in my Soul School Brave Boxes
from the Brave Girls Club.

First up is an oh-so-cute little notebook. It measures about 4 by 2¾ inches,

purchased from The Craft Barn.

The front cover has a piece of green corrugate card from Inspire Me Papers,

together with one of the butterfly images from the collage sheets

& a strip of Dovecraft Lace Ribbon (curiosity corner)

On the inside is a welcome message.

I went through the book & pulled out a few pages from the centre of each signature, to thin it out.

Then on each double page spread is a photocopy of each month's Affirmation Card,

with a copy of the wording on the opposite page.

I edged the wording with Whispers Strokes pens, in a matching colour,

whilst the image got my usual sanded edges.

It is small enough to pop into a pocket or a handbag, so that I can keep it with me at all times.

When I have a quiet moment to myself, then I can read the text,

be inspired by the images

& reflect on the lessons learnt.

Next up is something for my desk.

As I was looking through the collage sheets & started to cut each image out,

I was drawn to one of them immediately.

Not surprisingly for me it was a butterfly,

 however what struck me was that it was a rather large circle.

I checked & yes it was exactly the same size as a DVD,

so I began to look through my pile of unwanted media & found this one ...

THEY WHO DARE

Oh yes!

Here is the finished altered media piece.

DARE to be yourself

I printed out the words, punched a hole in the top for the fibres,
so now it can hang by my desk.

I added Ranger Ink Liquid Pearls (White Opal), Gold Stickles,
to add lustre & sparkle ...

& using Glossy Accents,
adhered three dew drops from The Robin's Nest,
to add dimension & shine.

The back is covered in the remaining paper from the box.

I am working on another project, but more on that one next month.

Laugh & Sing

It's Wednesday, so time for my next altered playing card for

Waddington Weekly

This week the words are from a poem by Yeats.

We must laugh and we must sing.

We are blest by everything.

ICAD Week 7

ICAD  is the Index Card A Day creative challenge,
which runs for two months from 1st June,
however this is my last week.

I am rounding off my series with thought-provoking quotations to inspire.

My index cards are 3" by 5"

Day 31

Day 32

Day 33

Day 34

Day 35

I have used a white pigment ink Signo pen by Uni-ball,

Tim Holtz Pocket Cards & Tissue Tape,

fabric tape & a Whispers Strokes Pen (Red),
images by Jessica Sprague,
dymo tape & a thread of Hessian,
small manila envelope,
a butterfly from Dover,
page torn from on old English dictionary,
old map illustration from a 1928 edition of Philips' New Pocket Atlas of the World

& gift wrap paper by Cavallini Papers & Co Inc,

Finally one last card, as this is all that remains of my used sheet of wrapping paper.

Day 36

This whole series was inspired by the wonderfully designed gift wrap paper from Cavallini,
which was chosen by my sister to wrap a gift to me several years ago.

I carefully unwrapped the gift to avoid damaging the paper as best I could.

At the time, I didn't know what project I would use it for,
I just knew that I needed to keep it for something special.

So just a few weeks ago,
when I was thinking about joining in with the ICAD challenge,
I looked at the used, torn & wrinkled paper
& just knew this was the right moment to use it.

Many thanks to my sister & to Cavallini.

This is all that is left.

Making the most of Life

Each week I alter an old, well worn playing card
inspired by a poem read during the previous week,

from a book of poetry entitled Poem for the Day One.

This week my card for

Waddington Weekly

is inspired by a poem by William Oldys.

Make the most

of life you may,

Life is short &

wears away.

The roses in my garden bloom & fade so quickly,

I treasure every moment of their scented beauty.

ICAD Week 6

ICAD  is the Index Card A Day creative challenge, which runs for two months from 1st June.

I am posting my cards daily on Instagram, but only publishing a blog post once a week.

My index cards are 3" by 5"

This week I have taken the theme prompt of games
& as with all games, a few explanations are needed.

Day 26

Impulsive Word Game

This card was inspired by a single game of Word Balloon
on my Nintendo DS the night before.

The game is similar to Hangman.

The word generated was Impulse.

Day 27

Playing Solitaire

The card game Solitaire, is also known as Patience,
which lead to this quote from Francis de Sales.

The lone Ace of Hearts represents ourselves.

Day 28

Games Compendium

For card 28, I took a photograph of the index card,
which had been covered in the used gift wrap as usual.

The image was enlarged & printed out.

Letter were cut to spell out
Hide & Seek

Can you find where each letter originates from?

Also can you spot the clues which lead me to choose a Compendium for this day?

Day 29

Words with Friends

The Scrabble tiles are made from printed images adhered to a mountboard base.

Day 30

The Rule Book

To end this week, I thought I had better throw in the Rule Book.

I have used washi tape by Stampington,

white pigment ink Signo pen by Uni-ball,

Tim Holtz Pocket Cards & distressibles cardstock (Library)

Distress Ink (black soot) & Whispers Strokes Pen (Red), 

images by Jessica Sprague,

dymo tape, staple & fabric tape,

page torn from on old English dictionary,

gift wrap paper by Cavallini Papers & Co Inc,
the Butterfly & the Bee are from Madame Payraud Patterned Paper by docrafts.

A Peaceful Day

My Brave Girl Soul School Brave Box for July arrived yesterday.

These take about a week to reach me, here in England.

This month's theme is
Protect your Peace

Affirmation Card for July 2015

To make the Truth Cards this month, I referred back to my notes
from the video lessons watched last week
& wrote sentences which were personal to me.

To fit inside my storage box,
I cut some Pale Cream & Dark Chocolate Soft Touch cardstock, measuring 3½ x 3½ inches
from Inspire Me Papers.

I used the patterned paper from the Brave Box,
together with three sizes of a butterfly image from the online class PDF.

I also used Dovecraft Lace Ribbon (curiosity corner)
& Distress Inks (antique linen & brushed corduroy).

We received three lovely badges this month & I have added them to my display frame.

Magnetic Picture Frame Display

Also now on display is this month's embroidered patch, with it's silver thread & wings.

She Protects her Peace

Never forget Paris

Waddington Weekly

The inspiration behind this week's altered playing card is a poem by Elizabeth Jennings.



I visited the place where we last met



Nothing was changed
There was no sign that anything had ended



And nothing to instruct me to forget

The image of the large postage stamp is from The Graphics Fairy.

ICAD Week 5

ICAD  is the Index Card A Day creative challenge, which runs for two months from 1st June.

I am posting my cards daily on Instagram, but only publishing a blog post once a week.

My index cards are 3" by 5"

This week I was inspired by the "telephone" prompt.

Telephone - telephone messages - which messages would I send to myself?

Day 21

DOCUMENT THE EVERYDAY

Day 22

FOLLOW YOUR OWN PATH

Day 23

ENJOY THIS JOURNEY

Day 24

EVERY DAY IS A NEW BEGINNING

Day 25

REMEMBER THE NOW

I have used
white pigment ink Signo pen by Uni-ball,
Tim Holtz Pocket Cards & distressables cardstock,
Ranger's Glossy Accents,
images by Jessica Sprague,
gift wrap paper by Cavallini Papers & Co Inc
& butterflies from Madame Payraud Patterned Paper by docrafts.

Bravely Waiting

While I am patiently waiting for the July Brave Box from the Brave Girls Club to arrive,
I have finished off a couple of other projects.

This is everything I have made during the first two months of membership.

Projects, including Truth Cards & Soul School Journal

Here are the three projects finished today.

Magnetic Pin Badge Display

I painted the original plain wood picture frame black.

The background is a gorgeous piece of Basic Grey scrapbook paper from their Urban Couture range.

The front is open, so you can pick a badge to wear or just move them around.

There will be three new badges to add this month, so there needs to be plenty of space to play with.

The glass front is actually underneath the paper, acting as a support for the magnet.

The order from front to back is badges, paper, magnet, glass, then the picture frame backing.

Framed I am a Brave Girl patch

I framed the embroidered patch, with a bright pink background.

I removed the perspex front, to photograph it.

This was a pine wood frame from Ikea, painted black.

Affirmation Card Easel

Lastly, I repainted a miniature easel, just the right size to hold the affirmation card.

#BraveGirlsClub #SoulSchool