TIN NICHES FROM MEXICO

This is the larger of the two niches, it is 280mm x 150mm

This niche is smaller and measures 135mm x 80mm

A few weeks ago, I bought some beautiful tin niches which are made in Mexico and have been itching to get to them and decorate them. I had a wonderful day yesterday and have done a large and small one and am so thrilled with them. Unlike a lot of my art which I give away, my husband LOVES these and they are going to have a permanent home here with us. Hope that you enjoy what I have done with them. I think that I will have to get some more to give away as gifts to my family and special friends. These are available from Paper Forest in Australia...... and Joyce is great to deal with. Here is her addy: http://www.paperforest.com.au/

BUTTON DOLLZ

I've been watching with interest all the lovely Button Doll creations on Wednesday Stamper and Artchix and so I decided to have a little play with one of my own. Great fun and I'm looking forward to making some more later.

The original Button Dolls are attributed to a Spanish artist called Nenufar Blanco from Barcelona in Spain, she has many beautiful creations on her Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nenufar-blanco/sets/72157602578791060/

Enjoy

GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO WIN.......

Over at her blog, Catherine Matthews-Scanlon is giving away 2 copies of her new book "Art from the Heart". It looks like a wonderful book and will no doubt be on many wish lists, including mine. All you have to do is visit her site and leave a message to be eligible to win....... http://cmscanlon.blogspot.com/2008/01/giving-away-two-copies.html

ANOTHER ISMAKI CHALLENGE

I have found a little time to make another card for the challenge on Ismaki.

Here is the link:

http://ismaki.wordpress.com/2008/01/07/challenge-1/#comment-142

Thanks girls for the challenge.

Rob

ISMAKI CHALLENGE 1

There is a new challenge site called ISMAKI, which is being run by Isa, Kianel and Mag. Here is my entry for this first challenge which was timely because I wanted to make a card for a friend with a new baby, so I used this template to inspire the card.. This is the challenge addy:

http://ismaki.wordpress.com/2008/01/07/challenge-1/

A NEW TWIST ON BRAYERED BACKGROUNDS

Riviera Kaleidocolour

Melon Melody Kaleidocolour

Calypso Kaleidocolour

Berry Blaze Kaleidocolour

I spent yesterday afternoon playing with a new twist on brayered backgrounds called Shining Stones. It is one of the challenges on Trish Bees "Next Generation Stampers" group and has really got everyone keen to try it out. I want to try some more with different cardstock, to try to get the look of more "texture" on the pages. I am so happy to have some lovely new backgrounds to play with and have some swaps and projects that I have lined up for them.

MY FRIENDS CAME FOR A VISIT

Two of my very talented arty friends came for a holiday and we had a lovely time together being creative and having lots of laughs and good times. Here is a photo of them in my workshop where there were several inspired works of art produced while they were here. So good to have you here Bethel and Lucy, look forward to your next visit.

CHRISTMAS JIG SAW

This is a jig saw that I did along with another 11 girls for Christmas. We each did one piece for each other in a 12 piece jig saw and all ended up with a lovely keepsake that we can hang up each Christmas. Thanks girls for your gorgeous pieces.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year to all, and especially to all of the generous people who come to visit my little blog and leave such lovely and encouraging comments. May 2008 bring you and your families all much Joy and Happiness.

Rob

KYLIE'S COLLAGE

Here is the collage that I made for my daughter Kylie for Christmas. Each item on the collage has special signifcance to her and her lifestyle and the beautiful way that she nurtures her two children, Elias and Jamaica. I really enjoyed making this for her and she really loves it. And after seeing this, she has been very interested in starting to do some collages herself. She is very artistically talented and I'm sure that when she gets some time to get started, she will be soon turning out some lovely pieces. I have so many things to upload to my blog, but have been having problems with downloading from my camera, hopefully I will have it sorted in the next couple of days. Luckily this one was 10" x 8" so I was able to scan it.

TILL THE END OF TIME.

This is a card that I made for the monthly Card of the Month challenge on my favourite Yahoo group. The theme was "Time" and I won with this card. I feel very honoured to be chosen, there were very many lovely entries.

PAY IT FORWARD

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this Pay It Forward exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow, or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise!

The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. So basically, if you make a comment and are one of the first three, I’ll send you something crafty that I’ll make! Once you sign up, copy and paste the above paragraph on your blog, and three other lucky people will be recipients of your handmade work.

I will check my blog daily to see who the first three sign ups are, and if they've joined this Pay It Forward exchange, they will be the recipients from me.Make sure to leave your blog address with your message, so I can check your blog. I will also need your email address so I can contact you for details of where to send them.

FREE CHRISTMAS IMAGES

This site has some really lovely Christmas images to share for free;

http://artist-how-to.com/Christmascountdown07.htm

Thanks for sharing the Christmas Spirit

FOUND SOME TIME FOR CHRISTMAS CARDS

This card was made with an image from Trish for the challenge at Next Generation Stampers, thanks Trish.

As I usually do, I entered more swaps than I should have, but I've managed to get them all done and away, and so now I've had some time to get started on making some Christmas Cards. I have managed to make 30 in the last two days, so still have to make a few more before I am finished, but will get some more done tomorrow I hope.

"THE MUSE"

I started this 10" x 8" collage while my friends Bethel and Lucy were here for a holiday, but wasn't happy with it, so I re-thought it and worked on it this evening and I'm so happy with the finished collage now. So today was the day it was meant to be finished.

I think that I was probably a bit overawed by Bethel and Lucy, for whom it seems to come so easily. I have to take a little time and give my creative "muse"

some space to come up with something that feels right.