K is for Keyrings

Everybody I know uses a keyring, they come in all shapes, sizes, colours and designs,big, small, soft, hard. I've made a few....

A wooden man painted orange.

 A Keyring for Dad.

A pretty Fairy Door

 

And my favourite... The Scull

 

The scull is very versatile, it can be finished off as a brooch, a bookmark or zip pull.

Any questions or queries? you can contact me via my facebook or shops... links in side bar 

Jan x 

J is for......

It's come to my attention that I haven't done an alphabet post in quite a while. I am now up to the letter  J and what a coincidence!!,  it just so happens that last week I had a request for a Jungle Themed Door Plaque for Joshua.

A Name Plaque for Joshua

✫*¨*.¸¸.✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨`*.✫*¨✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨`*.✫

I love painting these plaques, they are fun to do. This one is similar to other Jungle Plaques I've painted but the customer wanted this one without the snake that usually accompanies the monkey.

Here are some other items I found begining with the letter J,  I found these while browsing through Folksy. 

There is this 'Jelly Fabric' Bandana by Mini Monaxle

Jelly Fabric Bandana

✫*¨*.¸¸.✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨`*.✫*¨✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨`*.✫

 

This lovely Scented Blueberry Jelly Ring by CutiePies

Blueberry Jelly Ring

✫*¨*.¸¸.✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨`*.✫*¨✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨`*.✫

 Jungle Animals Crayons by Colour Me Fun

Jungle Animal Crayons

✫*¨*.¸¸.✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨`*.✫*¨✫*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨`*.✫

and these Jelly babies from the sweet shop,
.......ooops, where have they gone?..... Ok,  I couldn't resist, there are non left to photograph!!!

I haven't worked out how to do a link where you click on the picture so please click in the shop name link and it will take you direct to their shops so you can see all their other lovely items.
 

This week, as usual I'm linking this post to Handmade Monday at Handmade Harbour, I hope you can pop over and join in too.

Have a great week.

Jan x

I is for Ink & Initials

I haven't done an alphabet post for a while so I thought it's about time I got one done..... I'm up to the letter I and the subjects I've chosen for this post are Ink and Initials.

I use ink quite often in my paintings, as for any particular make or brand, I don't have a preference. I have used Daler & Rowney, Windsor & Newton, WH Smiths own, it all depends where I'm shopping and what is on offer at the time. I'm a great believer that you should buy the best you can afford but I also like a bargain. Good quality drawing inks are light fast and fade resistant so I tend to use el cheapo for sketches and experiments and  save the expensive inks for a 'proper' piece of art work.  

Buddha in Ink

This sketch was done by drawing with candle wax then brushing over with Parker Quink Ink using a large brush. This was done on A2 paper (approx 23.5 x 16.5inches).

...ooo000O000ooo...

Toadstools in Ink

This small ink drawing was done using Windsor & Newton Ink on 5 x 8 inch 140 lb paper.

...ooo000O000ooo...

Tree on a Hill

 This is one of a pair of Ink drawings I done a while back, this was done using very wet paper, ink, salt and bleach. I previously posted about this HERE

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This week I was asked to do a pen drawing of a couple of initials, I drew these using a fade resistant, waterproof gel pen. The pen is more precise and gives me more control over the lines and is very easy to use. To finish them off I will be putting them in a mount and frames.

...ooo000O000ooo...

I really enjoyed doing these so plan to do more and possibly put them in my Folksy shop. What do you think? 

Well that's my 'I is for.....' post completed, if you want to see my previous alphabet posts then click on the 'Alphabet' link in the right hand bar.

This post is linked to 1st Unique Gifts blog I hope you can pop along especially as it's Wendy's 52nd week of hosting Handmade Mondays linky party.

Jan X

H is for a Happy Halloween, Handmade Monday & a Husky Plaque

Hello all, I had a great time (and a full Order Book) at a local event this week end, I was at the Undley Pumpkin Patch for a Halloween Bonanza, in a marquee set up in the middle of a field, not only could you pick your own pumpkins but you could 'get lost' in the huge Maize Maze. I wasn't alone at this great event, there were some great other exhibitors and entertainers along for the fun.

There was the lovely Laurie at Mondays Child  whose face painting was truly  fantastic, along with the Amazing Adam Strange, Childrens Entertainer & Balloonatic who made the most wonderful balloon spiders and ghosties. The equally lovely Natalie aka  Hungry Hippie, Natalie makes great button jewellery, and a selection of fabric items including the aprons and pumpkins shown in the picture above.

We also have the tasty jams and preserves by Jo-Anne, I can attest that the pumpkin and apple is delicious, not that I had much, honest!! The colourful Letter Pegs by Justine and the fantastic Wacky Wax colourful candles in a jar. There was jewellery, books, cards, more tasty food (MMmmm cinnamon donuts and hot chocolate) and of course, ittle ol' me.

Plaques and Pumpkins

Some of my popular plaques

The Scull and 'Warning' plaques always do well with the boys and the scull with the bow is a big hit with the girls. So I had a great Halloween week end, I hope you did too.

As it says in the title, H is also for Husky Plaque as mentioned in my last post...

A Husky Plaque for Jackie

and also for Handmade Monday so don't forget to pop over and see what everyone else has been up to.

Take care all and if you are off trick 'n' treating tonight have fun and take extra care.

Jan x

G is for.....

I've been very lax with my Alphabet Posts lately, so I thought I'd rectify that today.
I'm now up to the letter G and I thought I'd do a bit of a shout out for three of my favourite G 'things' and also combine this post with Handmade Monday.

I have a long list of blogs that I like to dip in and out of, one of my favourites is the Going Green Blog  which is a great community of crafters, artists and writers coming together to share ideas. Pop over and have a look, it's full of great ideas.                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

How about these cute Ghostie Suncatchers.

Can ghosts be cute? Yes I think they can.



These little fellows can be found at  Diomo Glass 
Folksy Shop or follow the blog HERE
A great idea for Halloween but would look good all year round.



or how about checking out this Goose at JonBurgess Art Cards. I love his quirky artwork and humorous animal characters. He not only makes brilliant cards but is a great illustrator too. Check out his blog HERE

 

My contribution for this weeks Handmade Monday is a G is for Giraffe Plaque I painted.

My customer chose the Giraffe she wanted from the following selection of designs.

Have you got a favourite one?

A selection of my Giraffe sketches

Don't forget to visit with the other bloggers who join in Handmade Monday

Wishing you all a good week

Jan x

F is for Fairy

It doesn't matter to me how it is spelt it all means the same, whether it be fairy, faery, faerie or any other spelling, to me it's magical, enchanting and charming. 

Did you know that the word 'faery' originally derived from the Latin 'fatum' or 'fata' meaning Destiny, Enchantment and Fate? Fatum/Fata developed into fee (french) and the English fay or fae. Now this isn't me being clever, I gleened this information from one of my most favourite books, Good Faeries-Bad Faeries  by Brian Froud. 

As the title suggests Fairies are not always the sweet, gentle, helpful creatures we usually imagine, they can be mischievous, disruptive or even evil.

Other names we can use for the Faery Folk are sylph, spirit, elemental and pixie.  Brownie, elf, sprite and nymph. Gnome, goblin, gremlin. Siren, imp and leprechaun, these are just a few that can be used for the different classifications of Faries. We have the Fairy Godmother the Tooth Fairy and even Fairy Rings.

I often paint Fairies in my artwork, not in the same class as Mr Froud but I get great pleasure from doing these paintings.

Autumn               &               Springtime

Summer                      &                      Winter

Some of my commissioned Plaques

 I love Wooden Fairy Doors too, they are the doorway to an Enchanted Kingdom.

Do you believe in Fairies?       I do and it's often been said that I am 'away with the Faeries'!

All my Plaques and Paintings are either for sale or can be made especially for you, you can contact me by leaving me a message on this blog, through my Folksy Shop or my Facebook Page

Also check in on Wendy's Blog for a look at lots of other great bloggers or even join in on Handmade Monday.

I'm off now to play at the bottom of the garden, I'll be back soon with the letter G

Jan x

E is for......

Continuing with my alphabet theme, I am now up to the letter E

FirstlyI thought of doing 'E is for Events' but decided that there is a far better blog post about this subject than I could ever write. This one, 'Being an Exhibitor' written by Former Glory Seat Weaving is split into 4 episodes and well worth reading, so pop over and have a look and a read of   Episode 1   2   3   and 4

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I could of written something on Equality, Ecology or Evolution but I think my brain cell is either sleeping, has gone on strike or my husband has borrowed it. I had it yesterday Evening but it was missing when I woke up this morning.

So instead, I'm going to wonder around my computer and see what I come up with.

ooooooooOOOoooooooo

How about some Emerald Isle Earrings handmade from 'The Endless Knot' on  Folksy

or check out her Blog HERE

Or a lovely Enamelled Egg Pendant from The Magpies Daughter on  FOLKSY 

or you can see some of her lovely items on her BLOG

The next thing that came to my cell-less mind was E is for Elephant.

ooooooOOO000OOOoooooo

Did you know that in India and other Asian countries the Elephant is considered to be lucky? It is a symbol of power and intelligence.

It is also a Religious Symbol in the Hindu Faith. Among the Buddhists it is said that Lord Buddha’s mother dreamt of a White Elephant at the time of her conception and the White Elephant is said to symbolise the Divinity of Lord Buddha. 

There are many stories and myths about the Elephant, you can read more about them  Here

ooooooOO0OOoooooo

These are some Elephants I found around my house and garden

 and to finish off...

Some more Elephants for your garden...........

 .........these are quite impressive aren't they? but a bit big for my little patch.

Topiary and Willow Sculptures

That's all for now.....

Jan x

D is for Dinosaur and Dragon

I have a couple of plaques to show you this week and by pure coincidence they both fit into my alphabet theme and the letter for this post is D

A variation of this Plaque was first seen on my Facebook page, click  HERE to have a look. The customer wanted a Dino but with a 'crest' down its back, I love the colours she chose.

Blue & Lilac Dino

My customer was very pleased with this next Name Plaque

A Dragon for Simon

While on the theme of Dragons I thought you would like to see some photo's of  my recent visit to Nottingham, not strictly a Dungeon but these caves could hide a family of Dinosaurs or Dragons.

These photographs are taken in Ye Old Trip to Jerusalem reputedly England's oldest inn. The first picture is in one of the upstairs rooms and picture 2 and 3 are in the cellar. The pub is built into the caves and is well worth a visit.

This next picture is of some of the caves surrounding 'Ye Old Trip' and the Castle.

The rear of the Inn

 This is a fantastic pub called The Pit & Pendulum which is part of the Eerie Pub Co

Eerie Pub Co in Nottingham

  

I can imagine a family of Dragons living in the underground cellars, can you?

What collective noun would you use for a  group of Dragons? would it be a 'wing' a 'flight' or even a Dragoon of Dragons?

Why not pop over to 1st Unique Gifts blog and see some great contributions to Wendy's  Handmade Monday

Jan x

C is for Cupcakes

We all like Cupcakes don't we?

This week I've been asked to paint a couple of old favourites.

This Plaque was bought to hang in a caravan.

A Chocolate Cupcake Plaque just for fun.

These kitchen Plaques tend to do well at Craft Fairs and I get orders to personalise them either to match a room or a favourite flavour Cupcake,

Strawberry                 Chocolate Chip with Swizzle Stick                         Cherry

My all time favourite flavour is chocolate but I'm afraid I'm bit fickle when it comes to all things 'cake' and change my favourite along with my mood, this week is the turn of  Lemon Drizzle. 

(mmmm I must think of my diet)

Do you have a  favourite flavour Cupcake?   

I'm off to have a look at all the other great blogs that take part in  Handmade Monday. I hope you'll join me. If you don't know what this blog hop is then follow the link and all will be explained. 

Jan x

B is for Balance, Bookmarks and Bees

Carrying on with my alphabet theme, todays letter is 'B' so I'll start off with a bit of balance...

Balancing Act

We all need to find the right balance in our work, play and sleep routine. Finding that balance is the best strategy for getting ahead in the long run and the key to getting the most out of life.

I'm no expert but I do know that there is no magic formula or standard tick list to follow, balance is different for each and every one of us and we need to find what suits us best. As crafters, artisans, full or part time workers we can put in crazy hours to get a project finished and out to a client or the shop but we can't go on doing this on a long term, regular basis, it can burn us out or we can loose perspective. We need to balance that with a bit of 'me' time and family time.

I'm lucky that what I do for pleasure is an extension of my work, I love visiting Art Galleries and Museums, I window shop and people watch, I sketch and I take photographs, all that gives me inspiration and the motivation to continue being creative.

Getting the balance right is something we all face, our lives are full of balancing acts, the main two being work and play, family and friends. Sometimes the lines are blurred and we have to be aware and adjust our time. Some of us like to have a strict routine others like to be flexible. Do you find you are working too much and not spending enough time with friends and family? or do you find that you are not putting in enough work and are having too much social time? then you may need to re-evaluate your time and correct imbalances in your life.

Here are some points that I like to remember to keep my own life in balance and not let one area dominate the others,

• Keep a log or journal so you can calculate your time spent in each area and if needed, see where adjustments can be made.

• Keep an up to date diary so you can keep an eye on upcoming social and work events, commission due dates etc.

• Avoid all nighters, we've all done it when getting ready for a fair, a commission or even an exam, this strategy rarely pays off as any work done will be offset by fatigue and/or stress.

• Sometimes we need to say No. We need to know when we have enough projects on the go and get some of them finished before starting something new.

• If you need help then you need to learn to ask for it.

• Schedule some fun time.

 Now that's my thoughts on balance. Do you have your own ways of keeping things on an even keel?

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B is also for Bookmarks 

I had fun making bookmarks with a neighbours grandchildren, they can be made as intricate or as simple as you like, I thought you might like to see them. 

I used to make them with my own children, from cutting off the corner of envelopes and decorating them to making the BOOKMARKS from scratch, that's up to you.

 All you need to start is strong paper or card, a pencil a ruler and some scissors and glue, I used PVA. 

Some other things you might want to use are different coloured card or paper, tissue paper, crayons or paints and anything else you can think of, the choice is ours.

Ok nothing complicated here, the pictures are pretty much self explanatory but I'll talk you through it anyway,

1. Mark out and cut the required shape, I used A4 card and marked out squares measuring 7cm x 7cm. This size makes 4 bookmarks from 1 sheet.
2. Fold in the two sides where I have marked. I also like to cut the corner where marked, it makes the bookmark easier to slot onto the corner of the page.
3. Glue the folded pieces to each other, don't forget to leave a 'pocket' like the envelope corner. You can either decorate the front before or after glueing the back. 
4. This shows the envelope type corner.
5. A simple cut out paper daisy glued to the front.
6. I glued on paper eyes, I also cut away the corner and added a different coloured triangle to represent a beak.

Here are the finished bookmarks slotted onto the pages of a book. It a good way to teach children to respect books and not turn down the corners of the page, (a pet hate of mine). There is no limit to the decoration that can be used for these, except the limit of our own imagination.

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And finally, just to finish off the B's

From someone who has always run a mile on the first sight of a bee or sound of a buzz I think I've done quite well conquering my fear and taking these photographs.

 That's all from me for now.......


 Jan x

A is for Alphabet

I've had a busy week again this week and I'm loving it. I have had a week of making, doing, sorting and 'er hum' organising, I have been processing some orders, cutting and preparing the wood for my Plaques and Fairy Doors.

Wood for Plaques

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I haven't got a finished piece of work to show today but I was having a bit of a think. ..(that's dangerous according to my OH),  I often  see blogs with “ 'this' of the day” or “ 'that' of the week' and I thought I'd give my little corner of the blogasphere a bit of a framework and after much thought decided in the age old, tried and tested format of the alphabet.

I'm not promising it will be regular or consistent but I'm hoping that it will give me a starting point for a post. I'm not saying it will make an amazing post or even an absorbing read but it may help me focus my whitterings random thoughts, opinions or musings and maybe a picture or two.

 So like the words of that well known song do-re-mi  Let's......

....start at the very beginning
A very good place to start
When you read you begin with A-B-C
When you sing you begin with do-re-mi

Julie Andrews in A Sound of Music

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alphabet  (ˈælfəˌbɛt)
- noun
1.	a set of letters or other signs used in a writing system, usually arranged in a fixed order, each letter or sign being used to represent one or sometimes more than one phoneme in the language being transcribed
2.	any set of symbols or characters, esp one representing sounds of speech
3.	basic principles or rudiments, as of a subject
A is for Apple.......A bit simple I know but everyone has to start somewhere.

Salt Dough

Here are some fruits I made with Salt Dough.

There are lots of different recipes out there but

 I like to use this one HERE

A is for Art Nouveau

For a brief period at the end of the 19th century – starting around 1890,  Art Nouveau dominated the Art and cultural scene. Everything from decorative art and domestic furnishings to architecture and advertising was characterised by its elegance and organic forms inspired by nature. Even today, more than a century after the emergence of Art Nouveau, artists and designers continue to be inspired by the floral elements, natural features and colours of this enduring style.

Joe Boyle of 'Glasgow Art Metals' is a Glasgow based Artist  who specializes in metal and glass. His shop can  be found here on  Folksy

I'm off now for a wander around all the blogs that take part in the Handmade Monday  blog hop that is  hosted by Wendy of 1st Unique Gifts, I hope you can join me, there is always something new and interesting to look at.

Jan x