"Memories" Torso ATC for SCD Challenge

The theme for this week's torso ATC for the SCD Challenge is "Memories".  I struggled a bit at first with this one as I had an idea in my head what I wanted it to be about, then when I began, nothing seemed to work - it was all a bit of a hotch-potch and I wasn't very happy with it.  However, I played around a bit more with the card until now I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out.  My torso is a remembrance of all the wonderful and different cats that my family and I have had the honour of sharing our lives with over the years.

The background was some Crafty Individuals paper, inked and edged with a gold Krylon pen.  The stamped cat heads are from a Hampton Art Stamp - Kitty Tiles 4578 - coloured with Promarkers and pencils, edged with gold.  I used rub-on words on the background, plus other word stickers, covered with Glossy Accents and Beadazzles.  I love the little "heart with wings" charm which I inked with Butterscotch alcohol ink as it was originally silver.  I finished by wrapping some wool fibres around the "cherish" sticker - rather appropriate as cats love playing with wool.

Hope you like it.  I'm really enjoying the challenge of creating cards with this torso shape, to the extent that I've made one of my "Seaside" swap cards with a torso and plan on making another one.  Looking forward on Friday to seeing what the subject of next week's torso will be and to swapping all of them out at the end of the month.

The Old and the New

Thanks to those of you who decided to join in my Out with the Old/In with the New ATC swap, all the cards were received by Friday's deadline and I'm happy to say they all went out in the post to you today ...... I'll post pics of all the cards that came in for this swap in a day or two, to give everyone a chance of receiving them first and so as not to spoil the surprise!

Whilst I was on this old/new theme, I decided I needed a change of colour on my blog page to something a bit brighter, now that we are "gradually" heading towards spring - I thought this had a much cheerier feel about it, hope you agree!

Here are photos of a couple more atcs I made with a female/feline theme .....

...... and this is one with a more "fishy" theme to it!

Females & Felines

This week I've been working on making some atcs for a swap with the theme of "Females & Felines" - the deadline was looming and I just managed to finish them and post them out this morning; I even created a couple more extra cards too, for my swap stash.  Here are the four cards I sent for the swap.

On Saturday I went along to the Strikes Garden Centre to have lunch with family (my aunt was visiting from Scotland) and to watch sister Lindsay giving one of her excellent demonstrations of craft products and techniques ..... she had a busy day and was surrounded by eager-to-learn ladies every time I saw her ..... here are Lindsay and Joanne deep in conversation discussing some crafting technique, no doubt! 

Lindsay was demonstrating the Martha Stewart punches (beautiful effects, but I couldn't justify the expenditure of buying one this time) and Ink Potion No 9 (sounds like a witch's spell), which I did buy as I fancy having a go - it's a blending solution for dye inks on glossy paper.  I thought I had some liquid dye inks but when I got home and checked they turned out to be acrylic inks, so I don't think they'll work - still, I could give them a try; otherwise I can use dye inkpads - just got to dig out some glossy paper now.

I took along my small stash of atcs and swapped cards with Lindsay and Joanne (so nice to meet up with you again).  Here are the cards I chose, Lindsay's with the Tim Holtz stamp and ribbon, Joanne's with the stamped bird on grey background - both have the vintagey feel to them that I like so much. 

Thanks, girls, for swapping atcs - I don't often get the chance to swap cards in person.

When I was having a photo session the day after, of course I had a little helper and here she is ..... Mia just had to inspect the cards I was taking photos of ...... she just can't resist anything that has paper on it ..... atcs, books, tissues ..... one of her favourite games is to retrieve small screwed up bits of paper so the living room is littered with them!

We took Mia along to the vets this afternoon for a weigh-in to check on her progress - she's doing well - and we've now booked her in for her spaying op/microchipping in a fortnight's time ...... the only thing is that she will have to wear one of those cones round her neck for 10 days afterwards and knowing what a feisty little madam Mia is I think we're in for fun and games, trying to keep her from pulling it off! 

More "Mia" Photos !

Well, I had planned to post some pictures of my first round robin journal that "came back home" recently - it looks gorgeous so I wanted to share it with you.  However, it's way too late now to upload lots of pics, so I'll try and do it tomorrow.

Instead, here are some more recent photos of little Mia - who is getting cheekier and livelier every day now.  Her fur looks healthier, she is doing all the kittenish things she should be doing and appears to be growing and filling out.  We need to take her to the vets soon for her "weigh-in"!  We sat down with fish and chips for our dinner the other night and the moment she got a whiff of the fish, she began screaming at the top of her little lungs and practically climbing onto our plates to get at it!  Ended up having to flake off a few little pieces and put them in a dish for her in order to eat our own dinners in peace.  We've also been through the same performance with chicken !  (Nothing wrong with her appetite)!  And of course, being mostly Siamese, Mia is going to be - well, is already - a very vocal pussycat!

Here she is, playing with Max, and grabbing at her favourite toy, a piece of string!

I popped Mia onto an old video case so you can see the size of her!

And here she is next to my mobile phone (I know it's not the smallest or newest of mobiles but it's not huge either)!

Doesn't Mia just look so cute stretched out like this, fast asleep?

Now she is beginning to look like a proper Siamese kitten - everyone has fallen in love with her!

Well, that's it for tonight ..... got to get a few hours sleep now ..... hope to post again tomorrow.

Oh, and keep watching over the weekend - I'm planning on posting details of a new swap then! 

Introducing "Mia" - Positive Vibes Please!

So ...... I arrived home from the theatre about quarter-to-eleven to find we had a new little creature in the house, not entirely unexpected but still a surprise/shock.  Background is that several weeks ago our son, Max, and his girlfriend had begun to wear us down about having a kitten - a litter of kittens was available (we hadn't been able to view any of them though) but it was one in particular (the smallest) that they had fallen for.  I wasn't too keen at the time because of our old cat, Baxter - he was never fond of other male cats and I wanted him to enjoy the remaining time he had being the "one and only", not sharing attention.  However, Baxter had been fond of the little female we'd also had, they'd both come to us within a fortnight of each other ...... so then Max found out that the kitten was a female and we began to wonder if Baxter would like a little female company after all, maybe he'd enjoy it, but I still wasn't totally convinced.

Of course, then fate stepped in and we lost our Baxter last week; and then the kittens were ready to go and Max brought this little one home whilst I was at the theatre.  It seemed it was meant to be - we miss all our animals, not least Baxter, but at the same time we couldn't say "no" to a little animal that needs a new loving home.  Well, yes, we knew she was the "runt" of the litter (all the others were spoken for), smaller than the rest, but oh my goodness ...... she is tiny!  10 weeks old and only half the weight she should be!  Part-Siamese, big blue eyes, big "bat" ears.  Took her to the vets the next day for a check-up - ointment for a spot of conjunctivitis, no obvious signs of ill-health, except for the growth thing - seems like all the other kittens had pushed her out the way at feeding times so she didn't get as much nourishment.  Vet said could be some underlying problem, but we'll have to wait and see - have to go back again in a week to see if she's gaining any weight - they can do further tests if necessary, but well, it's fingers crossed right now that she does start to improve!

So we are all doing everything we can to help her grow - she is such a sweetie though, very alert and bright, hears every sound, curious about everything around her, doesn't miss a trick, now climbing everything she can (or can't!) and determined to get places she isn't supposed to (like behind the TV - she pretends she's going to eat her food then makes a mad dash to get behind it before we can get hold of her!).  She is eating - little and often - and using her litter tray perfectly (she announces her intention every time with a series of "mew, mew" noises).  She is also very very affectionate, wants to be cuddled, loves sleeping in your lap, having her tummy tickled, and playing at chasing bits of string and little balls.  So .... in every respect, apart from the weight/growth, she is fine and we are just hoping that she pulls through this and grows into a feisty little cat ........ "Mia" is her new name.  We're having to give her 24/7 attention - I stayed up with her all through that first night, dozing in and out of a light sleep, while she curled up contentedly on my dressing gown - well, she is just too tiny yet to be left alone, couldn't leave her in a strange house on her own while we all went to bed, could we?  Ever since Graham (DH), Max and I have been taking it in turns to do shifts overnight, so you can imagine that we're all a bit like walking zombies at the moment, trying to catch up on enough sleep, and I'm afraid I've hardly been able to think straight the last day or so!  We know this may still not turn out to have a happy ending, but we're going to give Mia the best chance we can and give her a proper loving home, whatever happens.

And here are some photos of little Mia that I took the day after her arrival, whilst she was sat on Graham's lap.

Here she is curled up cosily on my cardi !

I'll post more pics of little Mia again soon - hopefully they'll help to show her progress.  Please send your most positive vibes little Mia's way - she needs all the help we can give her to bring her through this.  Thank you.

Beads, Witches and a Pussycat

Sorry it's been a few days since I posted anything ..... a combination of "real life" stuff, dental appointment, a bit of creative block and, very sadly, we had to take our very elderly (18 years old) cat, Baxter, on the one-way trip to the vets.  We knew his days were numbered, but making the decision (though the right one) was still so difficult.  He was the last of our cats (and was also the oldest), we've said goodbye to four others in the past few years, and it now feels very strange about the place.  No food bowls, no buying any cat food today, no little person hustling for a bit of ham out of the fridge or sitting on my lap, purring ...... yes, it's strange, it's the first time for almost two decades that we've been without any cat at all and the house seems so empty right now.

But onto other things ..... the Witchy ATC Swap.  Thank you, everyone who has sent in their cards for this swap, I've had a great response, and am just waiting on some arriving from the US ..... they're on their way, but unfortunately of course we have a national postal strike here for the next two days, which means there will unavoidably be a bit of a delay with swapping the cards out.  I promise I will be doing this as soon as I possibly can next week, barring anything else unforeseen happening!  What I would like to do is take pictures of all the cards and turn them into a slide show here on the blog, so everyone will get to see all the wonderful cards that have come in ...... I "think" I've figured out how to set up the slide show, just might not be able to add any tag line to say who sent what ..... so bear with me!  I'm still learning about what I can and can't do with all this blog stuff!

Finally, here are more images of my beaded jewellery, a bit of a mixture ...... some of the pieces I post are available for purchase. but if you would like something made up to a particular colour theme or using a certain stone or pearls, for instance, then I'd always be happy to discuss this with you and create a piece of jewellery to suit your needs.

This is a rather large netted amulet bag, with a "sea" theme - I got carried away with all the fringing and embellishing, it's full of little shells, stones and charms like the metallic seahorse and stone turtle.  Although it's quite heavy, it's balanced out by the beaded tube with fringed stones which sits at the back of the neck, so it's not uncomfortable to wear.

This "autumnal leaf" necklace is a lot more subdued both in colour and style.  Here is a close up of the leafy section, the leaves are attached slightly off-centre on the necklace and as they are each stitched on separately, you can arrange them how you like once you are wearing the piece.

The "bead soup" cuff with felted flower and the "lei" style flower garland above were both created as magazine projects.  The cuff fits snuggly around a 7" wrist and is created in peyote stitch using a mixture of coloured seed beads.  The "lei" consists of several strings of assorted beads, shells and pearls, all entwined together.

I've made a lot of amulet purses over the years, but this one was a little bit different.  I loved the cobalt blue which I used for the body and fringing of the purse; I then added a silver netted "skirt" over the top with a daisy chain strap, 24" long.    

    

The lime green and orange spiral necklace (above) was created for a Beadworkers Guild display with the colour theme "Citric".  This exhibition of beadwork travelled around the UK for a year at many of the craft and bead shows - it was one of the most stunning looking displays the Guild had ever put on and drew many positive comments from visitors to the shows, both beaders and non-beaders alike.

This amulet bag again has a netted skirt, this time working rock crystal stones into the netting, with a 24" long spiral strap ...... I can't claim the design is my own, it was taken from a pattern in a stitch magazine I had several years ago. 

This is my "Sweet Pea" necklace - the strap has beaded tendrils twining round it with flowers and leaves hanging from each end.  There is a toggle fastener hidden amongst the flowers, once you've fastened it you can arrange the flowers over the top to hide the toggle.  Here is a closeup of the flower section.

My final picture for tonight is of "Bagpuss" (how many of you remember - and love - the old children's programme about saggy, baggy Bagpuss and all his friends in the toy shop window?) - I designed Bagpuss as one of the pieces for my City & Guilds Beadwork course some years ago.  I first drew him out on bead graph paper and coloured in the squares with pencils (no high tech computer programs for me)!  As I stitched I would alter the shape slightly or change the colour of a bead here and there, until I was happy with the result.  I also made a pair of earrings with a mouse charm dangling from the end of each, using the same coloured beads.

Dear old Bagpuss - a little tribute and remembrance of our own sadly-missed Baxter, whose nickname was also "Bagpuss".