Monday, September 13, 2010

Moseley Old Hall


Front of House
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
Went here today, had an excellent guided tour, the really knowledgeable guide made it very interesting.

Not many good photos from today, no photography indoors, changeable weather, small garden etc. all leading to not many shots to sort and edit.

At time of writing the NT site was down for maintenance, hopefully come and check this link when it's back up. :)

www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-moseleyoldhall

Hello :)


Hearts
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
Some of my cutout hearts ready for wedding cards :) Trying to compile some crafty type images to use on here and on etsy etc. I love this blog layout but I aspire to make my own very soon. I don't like getting praise for someone elses artwork, even if they did make it to share. Is that all back to front? :)

Wedding Congrats Commission


Wedding Congrats Commission
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
This might not be a super imaginative design, but it seemed fresh and "on trend"....

"On trend" is one of my least favourite expressions. That is because it is abused ruthlessly on QVC.... Like "School Boy Error" on Masterchef and "Journey" on Strictly Come Dancing.

Included the inside of the card on this pic, as I normally decorate them too, just using clipart and things, but I think its a nice added extra.

One of these is for my cousin, who is getting married very soon.

5 year old Lewis


5 year old Lewis
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
Commission card for Lewis, who will be five, and is completely excited by going to school.

The blackboard (greenboard?) paper, and the apple paper the apple was snipped from, both came from a set from Poundland, that I have made several school themed cards from. (Thanking the teacher card normally.) I always check poundland for potentially cheap crafty things. It can be very good for stickers!
Tried to do a few 3D pics of the crayons and ruler and pencil sharpener, and then put on a real rubber band. ( Very well stuck on, so not at all easy to pull off!)

Ruby Anniversary Commission.

One of the commission criterea was that the husband whose anniversary it was, was particularly into his Lancashire roots. After a lot of puzzling, I went with a lancashire rose. The lancashire rose appears on the shield and flag of lancashire.

Lots of interesting info about it on the Wikipee!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Rose_of_Lancaster

80th Commission


80th Commission
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
Bit of a traditional elderly lady card, but I dont often use this kind of door fold, so it was good practice for me. I like spots and stripes together :)

Smudge in the shopping


Smudge in the shopping
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
This is the same kit as blogged not so long ago, featuring "Smudge" from "Smudge and Mitten" a decoupage set from Cardcraft Plus.

I love red and green together, and am fed up with only being able to use it at Xmas, so I am liberating my red and green crafting items and using them not at christmas too. So there. ;)

http://www.cardcraftplus.co.uk/
Smudge and Mitten Kit still at £1.99, not die-cut tho!

Guitar card, commission.


Guitar card, commission.
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
More guitars!! It's a conspiracy against me :D craft paranoia! :)
Note to self : Need a new "guitar card" idea.

Background Paper -
We R Memory Keepers, White Out Collection, Nonsense, Splish Splash.

Golden Retriever for Bren


Golden Retriever for Bren
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
Been using the free paper kits in the magazines alot recently. They are especially useful for "boy cards". I dont have much stock for the boycard department, so having a whole themed set, all matching, up to date themes and colours, is super handy. Now all I need to do is make a not of which theme belongs to which magazine! erf! ;)

This is for my almost-brother-in-law, who has a golden retriever called Charlie. :)

Hedgehog for Sharyn


Hedgehog for Sharyn
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
Hawthorn and Bramble are new friends to the pre-existing Docrafts Daisy and Dandelion Range. When they came to end of season I managed to get a good part of the set for 50% off and I thought it was worth getting for that. This was my first go at doing masking with my stamping. Used water colour pencils to colour in.

Card for my almost-sister-in-law. :)

Golden Wedding Fan


Golden Wedding Fan
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
I've seen this paper folding tech a few times, this was the most successful style I think, but there are still loads of problems with it imho, so I think I am going to leave it and wait til I see some other people using it in a better way. It was a pain getting it into a standard envelope. The bottom part of the triangle is a bit messy. Apparently it looked a bit "plain" compared to my normal cards, but honestly I think there was enough going on without major embellishments.

Happy Birthday Dad


Happy Birthday Dad
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
I loved this paper by Cosmo Cricket, mainly cos it featured that caravan and camping vibe that seems to run in the genes of my family-in-law.

So this was meant to look like a tower of cars, piggybacking, and going on holiday together... this was not meant to look like a car crash! oops :)

Gave it to my father-in-law and confessed the problem, I dont think he minded much :)

Papers are-
Joy Ride, Zoom Zoom, Cosmo Cricket
Nutmeg Autumn CSP569 Cosmo Cricket

More Guitars


More Guitars
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
I seem to be making a lot of guitar cards at the moment.

This is because I saw a stamp set in TKMaxx featuring some electric guitar and grungey boy things. I didn't buy it because I wasn't sure I'd use it enough to justify spending £3.99.
Because I made that decision, I have since had orders for 3 guitar cards. erf! ;)

TKMaxx is getting in lots more craft stuff at the moment, some good bargains. Hero Arts stamps occasionally appear too. Yay! :D

Happy Anniversary


Happy Anniversary
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
Seeing as Cath Kidson shall soon rule the world, I thought I better start to work on the Cath Kidson look! :)

Got the cheap wrapping paper at Boundary Mill, in the sale, and thought it would make a nice wedding or anniversary card. Have lots left :)

Hero Arts Cupcakes.


Hero Arts Cupcakes.
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
Aiming for a male card using a cupcake theme. Not sure how well it went! :)

I created two sheet of paper covered in cosmic shimmer mist, one purple, one green. I stamped the images using black ink, and then pieced the images together. I really love the paper piecing technique and this is one of the several goes I have had at it.


Back ground paper is Nook and Pantry Cupcakes, Basic Grey. Not sure if this was the best venue for it, but it was luscious and I wanted to use it :)

Using Hero Arts Stamp sets -
Birthdays CL139
Happy Animals CL155
Cupcakes CL158

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Wenlock Priory


Wenlock Priory
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
Uploaded my pics from out trip to Wenlock Priory at the beginning of July.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/wenlock-priory/

Sunday, September 05, 2010

Cronkhill House


Main view of Cronkhill
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
Cronkhill House is a National Trust property that is rarely ever open. So we took the opportunity in August to have a look. The building and it's outbuildings are amazing. I could have happily moved in. We were also lured by the mention of the gardens but were sadly disapointed. They were there, but empty and unloved. Obviously the current tenant is not terribly interested in anything beyond cutting the grass. I think the NT should let me live there instead :D
Uploaded a few pics onto Flickr. Have decided to include my photography in my blog...bits of it anyway.

More Pixies..


More Pixies..
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
And more David Parkin! I have almost used up all the ones I printed out from that set in Simply Cards. There are more unscanned sets though! So I might be bloggin them even more...:)

Link to the illustrator and magazine a few entries below.

Seaside Birthday


Seaside Birthday
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
More Cosmic Shimmer Mist love! I dont know how well the mica pigments photograph, its hard to catch them at the right angle! Masked off the bird shapes and then sprayed Golden Mint and Ocean Sunlight over the top.

I'd pop in a link to the Creative Expressions website, who make the shimmer mists, but the website I think is there's is really poor, and isnt worth looking. :p

Gecko Birthday


Gecko Birthday
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
My current craft crush is for Cosmic Shimmer Mists... They are superb! I think I should have invested a long time ago. I've expermented with masking off shapes and love the effect.

This card was for my friend Merv who is an owner of a very lovely gecko. I hope he liked it :)

Altered Art


Altered Art
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
I've not really embraced vintage, but my crafting friend Su has, so I thought I would have a go at a vintage altered art project for her birthday.
Mainly I discovered that I dont have the right inkpads to print on painted surfaces. I even brought some gesso! I've purchased some more bits and pieces now so I can have another go, but this was my first!
The lady was an image in the National Trust magazine, really interesting person, and I'd like to visit her studio in Liverpool - Margaret Chambré Hardman.

Take That!


Commission
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
Sometimes my commissions are for something totally different and it was really good fun to do this... hard to do sketches that actually look like Take That and I felt very out of practice... but I think they ended up ok... Robbie Williams was v.hard to draw indeed, I reckon it because actually his face is quite indistinctive, its his personality that you see more than the skin.
No, I am not a fan >_<

Birthday Kite


Birthday Kite
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
Idea swiped from a card mag, tried several versions of it and used one for a commission. I added the greeting on later.

Cardness


Birthday Card
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
I have been naughty. I've got severely out of sync on the uploading and blogging recently, so I'm going to upload everything in rather a hotch potch, sorry.

This is another David Parkin design, featured in "Simply Cards" magazine.
I scanned the image and printed it out, then used watercolour pencils to colour it. Added some stickles glitter glue and gems. Flowers were uncoloured and I used my copics to colour them in. Added a feather too :)

Friday, July 09, 2010

Pixies


Pixies
Originally uploaded by Eekers!

Actually got round to using some of the free images that come in the centre of "Simply Cards" magazine. I really liked these ones by David Parkins and they were lots of fun to colour in too!

I love my copics, but it's just so much easier to use watercolour pencils...

If you missed the mag and would like the images, I could always send you a scan. :)

http://www.simplycardsmag.com/
http://www.davidparkins.com/blog.htm

Scout Leader Commission


Scout Leader Commission
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
Researched some of the badges and then recreated them as papercuts. I wasn't too sure about the result ( it was a bit big too!) but the person who commissioned it was very happy. Tg. :)

Used nestabilities on the Cuttlebug for this. Restricted colour palette in an attempt to stop it becoming too bitty.

90% of my cards now are commissions. Its good to keep being challenged.

We love post.


Blackbird
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
Early bird brought a package from PaperArtsy yesterday. Unfortunately they weren't stamps for me, I'd ordered some for a friend's birthday. I have to say that it was an extremely fast and effecient service. They were here in next to no time and the comms were brilliant.
PaperArtsy kick ass. :)

http://www.paperartsy.co.uk/

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Trentham Gardens


Trentham Gardens
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
Welcome to my new blogdom. It is currently being preened and plumped but will contain properness and postings very soon. x

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Finished Dragons


Finished Dragons
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
Finally uploaded the pics of my dragon tiles onto flickr. I think they need a bit of touching up before I photograph them to put onto etsy. I'm not entirely happy with the result, I wish I hadnt had them dipped!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Grandad's Birthday


Grandad's Birthday
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
Another batch of cards done, and a few more to upload onto Flickr.

Working on some Easter cards now.

Could do with some inspiration!

Friday, March 05, 2010

Cycling Commissions


Cycling Commission another.
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
One of the results of doing commissions for other people, is that their interests may not coincide with your own, and suddenly you are having to think of even more cycling ideas! I've done six recently and am now struggling for ideas!

Anyway, fancied doing something different for this one...bit more modern?

Uploaded another batch of pics onto Flickr, you can get there by clicking on the picture.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Kitty parcels


Kitty parcels
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
Knitty Kitty Parcels ready for posting.

Part of the photo backlog. :)

Monday, January 18, 2010

Painting for my friends.


Painting for my friends.
Originally uploaded by Eekers!
Bit slow on the updates at the moment, but I have got time to just borrow this photo from my friend "T" and show you the painting I did for her and her boyfriend just before Xmas. She supplied the canvas and I painted a waterscape picture, featuring the kind of boats they are interested in, ish. :)

Its a small triptych (3 x 30cmx40cm canvas) and really it was meant to be a stopgap measure to cover a lighting socket issue until they found a piece of art they liked. Its been hard to find exactly what they want, so I thought atleast this would be better than nothing. I think they want to keep it now...

As it I didnt quite get enought time to finish it properly, if they are keeping it, I might take my paints and smooth off some of the rough edges and qwerky issues, I didnt really finish the sky at all!

The middle canvas is twice as thick as the other two. And I had to do a bit of photoshopping to swap the order they were in, cos they were designed to be in this order, but were put up in reverse..it didnt really make much difference tho, apart from to the water line.

They look ok in a thumbnail :)