Too Soon?

Yes, it's only October but please don't hate me! I always end up rushing around a week before Christmas having done zero preparation so I challenged myself this year to acquire at least some semblance of organisation. So, having just purchased a few odds and ends from Hobbycraft I thought I'd try out some seasonal tags.

Favourite find was this Confetti Glitter Glue which has stars and snowflakes in it (how cool is that?!) and the Naughty or Nice stamp. I had to play with them right away and tags are brilliant for this; they're ideal little blank canvases and you don't have to stress about making a mess of them.

I rounded up some watered down re-inkers in mist bottles, washi tape, ribbon, the confetti glue and rubber stamp. Spread the confetti glue on the tag with a palette knife or something similar as it's quite thick and let it dry - this took several hours but the room wasn't very warm - then spritz with misters, add the stamp and washi tape fragments and finish with a ribbon bow. Super quick, apart from all the drying time, and easy, and I think it will make a nice addition to my Christmas gift wrapping!

Grow

So here we are: the first rose of summer. This is Ispahan, an old Persian damask which is always the first to bloom in my garden. Every year it astonishes me with its beauty and overwhelming perfume and really kick-starts my summer garden.

And now it's being joined by more early blooming lovelies. This is a little perennial viola called Etain, purchased at my local market and adding a big shot of sunshine on those grey days we always get in summer here.

Remember the tags I was working on in the post below? Well, inspired by my wee garden I made a bunch of blooms to decorate one of them and this is what I ended up with!

Currently available here

Tagging It

Some of my first ever collages, many years ago, were done on luggage tags. There's something about the quirkiness and informality of repurposed tags which I find irresistible. Add to that their small format and you have a perfect canvas with which to create little decorative objects. 

And what can you do with them? Well, obviously, you can frame them - a box frame is ideal - or use them in your journal, as bookmarks, or even as gift tags for a special present. I recently saw a whole collection of collaged tags which had been turned into a string of bunting for decorating a room, which I think is a fab idea and one I intend to try soon.

As for these two, you can find them in my Etsy shop if you want to start your own collection!

Domino Necklace

Well I went to get my hair cut ridiculously early this morning, then spent ages schlepping round town for 'stuff' (ie nothing very interesting) so by the time I got home my dodgy left foot was giving me hell. As a result I'm having a lazy day today so I thought I'd show you this little pendant which I made the other day.

It's made from a standard sized domino which I painted with alcohol inks and gold leaf paint and then stamped a portion of one of Teesha Moore's wonderful Tattered Circus stamps onto it. It looks way more lovely in person - scanners never work with metallics very well - and I may have to make more!

For sale here