Shades of Blue

I love blue flowers, Agapanthus must be my favourite, and delphiniums.....and a bluebell wood is my idea of heaven. So although this stamp by Woodware is called Clivia (which are orange flowers, I had to call Mr Google), to me it looked as if it was crying out to be blue.

So here it is.....I really like it, what do you think?

Our friendly electrician has been today doing a few things. We have a lovely old lamp post in the garden which wasn't wired up to any electrical supply. Which raises the question, who would go to the trouble of hauling an antique cast iron lamp up the garden, embed it in a concrete base, made sure it was level, then not bother to make it work? Maybe they were exhausted from all that effort of getting it in place.....anyway, it's fixed now, looks great....I always think there is something magical about a illuminated garden at night

So while all this was going on, I finished off some stuff in my den, took photos then went to upload them onto the computer. It took me about fifteen minutes of frantic pressing of buttons, crawling around on the floor to check wires were connected before I realised that the power had been turned off. Honestly, the time I waste by not thinking things through

An update on our young YouTuber Max, he now has a magic total of 50 followers on his channel, has gained huge respect and superstar status among his friends, and is very very delighted with all of you, his new best friends! Thank you all so much xx

Quick Little Video

Here's a video I made for Fiskars, on using the stamp press.....

Quick? Did I say quick? Ha (hollow laughter....) This video took me about two days to make. First of all I shot it about three times, making massive mistakes so that I then had to tear it up, get everything ready again and start over. Finally I got it, and settled down to edit it. Looked okay. But when I did the voiceover, Donald Duck had appeared from somewhere and was quacking away in the background - oops, I forgot to delete the original soundtrack, which, because I had speeded the video up (so that it wasn't like watching paint dry,) now sounded just like Donald on speed.

Mind you the original soundtrack went something like this:

Hi everyone, it's Enfys here with a quick video showing you the stamp....(!!****@@@@) ah here it is, sorry, just dropped my inkpad on my foot. Where was I .......as I was saying (cough cough splutter splutter)......and it really is the most fantastic tool  (ring ring MIKE ANSWER THE PHONE!)....and you can easily wipe it (dash, darn, and @@*****!! dropped the inkpad again), finish by adding a few sequins (Ring Ring MIKE< THERE'S SOMEONE AT THE DOOR), Thank you so much for watching...(oh ***@@@@!!!!)

Steven Speilberg, rest easy, your job is secure, no chance of a takeover by me. It does make me wonder how these professional crafters do it though. Their voices are so unhurried, they never say Umm, or ermmm......and I bet they never say ***!!@@@@ either! 

Catching up.....

I have already started my quest for the perfect quick and easy Christmas card. I want something without bulk, and quick to make. Even when I find it, I know I will be bored after half a dozen

This first one used a memory box stencil and Sissix snowflake, sprinkled with a little frantage embossing powder

This one was done with a Memory Box die......far too fiddly for mass producing although it looks simple....

While I was having my 'lazy August' I did Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 103 class, now those of you who know my style know that mixed media type projects really aren't my scene, but I thoroughly enjoyed the class, what an excellent teacher Tim is. I messed around a little and was really pleased with this next card that I showed on the Fiskarettes UK Facebook page, where we have a regular Friday feature on cards for guys. 

I must thank so many of you who took the time to subscribe to Max's YouTube channel. He was over the moon, his subscribers have jumped from a paltry three to 39. you really did make his day - and mine too actually, thank you all

On the Fiskarettes facebook page, which I run for Fiskars, everytime I post, it shows me as 'Fiskarettes UK' not Enfys. A lot of people over there know it's me however, and if I post one of my projects, they often mention me by name in their comments - 'love this Enfys' etc. So last week, a person asked rather plaintively 'Who or what is an Enfys?'

This led to quite a conversation after I posted a photo (the new one on the sidebar here of me with Kiki and Monty) and said that it's me, Enfys, pronounced Envis

The long and short of this is that apparently IKEA have a product called an Envis. What is it? A gorgeous sparkly chandelier? A really comfy sofa to curl up on? A snuggly feather duvet to cuddle up to at night? A stylish new fabric?

 No, it's a pair of silicone pastry brushes. I feel quite insulted 

See you tomorrow x

AWOL - Forgive me!

Oh dear, there has been a bit of a hiatus in the blogging department, I have had a very busy August, and to be honest I was feeling a bit burnt out, so decided to give it a rest until September, hoping that the mojo would return and things would be a bit quieter....

So the first visitors to arrive were my daughter in law Annabel with Kiki and Monty - they loved feeding the horses that live in the field opposite our house every day - the horses soon latched on, and stood waiting patiently at the fence every day waiting for their apple and carrots

- here we are on a day out in Stratford upon Avon where I took them to the theatre to see Wind in the Willows

Next to arrive were Max and Milo with daughter in law Lidia. The boys are very keen on crafts, and when Milo saw this card I had made......

he wanted to make one for Daddy, so with a bit (!) of help, here he is proudly showing the result.....

He also made one for his mum, here is the message he wrote inside....

In case you can't see it, it says (with some corrections): Dear mum, you're a very good mum but not good enough, you need to play more. best son Milo

Max was also in competition for best son, he made his mum this.....we drew around his hands and he cut them out and decorated them

we added the message 'love you mum' onto concertina copy paper

I have a BIG favour to ask of you, those who go to YouTube, I would love it if you could go here  and subscribe to Max's you tube channel, called Max Gaming. He was working so hard making little videos and  voiceovers, and was getting very downhearted that he only had three subscribers (his parents and me!). So if you would click on subscribe it would make a little boy very very happy. Thank you xx 

Right, that's got you all up to date with my summer break, I promise I will be back with some crafty stuff more regularly now I am refreshed and raring to go.... xx

Gatefold Card with a twist - Tutorial

Here's a little project to use all those double sided papers you've been hoarding - you get two cards from one 12 x 12 sheet, so perfect for quick and economical mass producing. I have given the instructions on the photos......

Now your card will look like this.....

 Now fold the score lines on the little left over pieces, and glue onto the card as shown below (fold so that the other side of the pattern paper is on top......

Stamp or write your message on the insert....

Finish with a punched flower attached to just the left hand side of the card. Here's what it looks like folded....

This card would make great party invites, or even wedding invitations - you could add printed details onto the insert.

The horses in the field opposite my house have had two little foals, they are so sweet. I have been trying all day to get a good photo of them. I wish I had had the camera out when one of them tried to reach a tempting leaf on a branch just out of reach, those wobbly legs just weren't up to it, and she fell over in a ungainly heap of lanky legs. Mummy mare nudged her up with a toss of her head, as if to say 'KIDS!'

Talking of kids, I have some news I have been hugging to myself for a while now. I am going to be a grandma again! Our daughter Alex is expecting her first baby in November, I am so excited, rushing in and out of baby shops like a woman possessed. We won't know if the baby is a little boy or girl until the birth so at the moment he/she is just our little Peanut! 

See you tomorrow xx

Art in Action

I thought you would enjoy seeing photos taken at Art in Action - a huge summer exhibition of all sorts of art, held at Waterperry Gardens in Oxfordshire. So many talented people were exhibiting, from potters........

 I loved this huge bird bath......

Artists who work with glass........

Artists who work with beads - can you believe that this portrait of Alan Turning (inventor of the Enigma machine in WW2) is made entirely of beads!

Artists who compose pictures using fabric and thread.........

and these next two were Batik......read the description of the process below, and marvel at the talent that created these pieces......

and fabric....

These scarves were made from silk organza and were all hand wired to create the ruffled shape - can you imagine how long that would take! 

and no, I didn't buy anything - the prices reflected the quality of the work and craftmanship, but I mentally spent about £200,000! I hope you enjoyed my little 'Summer Exhibition' today, see you tomorrow x

Portugal - from sunshine to showers.....

We had an incredibly restful holiday in Portugal - such a beautiful country...... 

The hotel had glorious gardens, where you could sit by little streams like this one if you wanted to get away from the noisier pool areas.... 

We did have a bit of drama - on the first evening there we were sitting out on our balcony, it was about midnight and very quiet. We had closed the sliding doors into the room - and then discovered we couldn't get back in, there was no handle on the door (I assume for security reasons). Panic stations. The place was deserted, there was nobody in the rooms on either side of us. Then I realised I had my iPad out there, so I looked up the hotel, sent them an email headed URGENT and prayed that somebody would see it. Please help, I wrote pleadingly, we are locked out on the balcony of room 08, please send someone to rescue us. 
They must check their emails regularly, because within minutes the night manager was there, trying very very hard not to laugh.........

But apart from that, and returning to the aftermath of the referendum, we had a great time. I had left a key to our house with my friend who was going to pop in and water the garden while we were away. Ha! I think she had to drain the water out of the half drowned pots, apparently we missed the monsoon. So everything had doubled in size in two weeks, the hostas were flowering......

and I found two of these wrought iron plant stands all rusty and abandoned in a far corner of the garden, I lovingly rubbed them down and repainted - looking quite good now that the flowers I planted have begun to trail over the sides.....

I'll be back tomorrow with some crafty stuff, see you then x