Handmade Sketchbook - Pages 2-7

Painted, stamped background. Waste from cutting machine cut-outs. Heart jewels.

Recycled greetings cards, postage stamps, snowman cut from paper, sequins. Background - recycled envelope.

Handmade label on recycled envelope

Painted, stamped background. Waste from cutting machine cut-outs.

Painted, stamped background. Waste from cutting machine cut-outs.

Print out of altered photograph of door.

Door opens to reveal printout of hare [my art], painted background.

A Land Far Away [25 - 29]

Envelopes and IF [suspense]

I created this envelope on the computer using a free label from here and doing a few alterations such as space for a stamp. I printed it and made it into an envelope. The envelope below was already a cute little square brown envelope. For this one I used a purchased stamp to decorate around the edges.

Illustration Friday's challenge this week is 'suspense'. I used this drawing from my sketchbook of a giant prawn and a man on a beach. Are the tables turned? Will the prawn eat the man instead of the other way round?

Handmade Buttons and Book

Continuing from yesterday - handmade gifts. I made buttons for two friends and a sketchbook for the other. I made three different kinds of buttons. The clear ones were hand drawn on shrink plastic, a great idea I first saw on this blog . I bought the wrong plastic and the wrong size punch so they are quite small buttons. Also some were not exactly round - but it adds to their uniqueness, or so I tell myself. 

These are made up of French Knots sewn on a non fray fabric [fliselina/vilene] then glued to 'Dress it up' 'make-a-button' button shanks.

These I made with the 'prym easy cover button shells', lace on silk.

These are also on the easy cover shells, French knots and two kinds of fabrics inspired by Karen Ruane's lovely work

For the button cards I started with labels from The Graphics Fairy which I altered, printed and distressed. They looked like this to start with.

For the book I made, I used unused printed patterns {passap knitting patterns} and the insides of used envelopes - have you ever looked at these, there are lots of different kinds of patterns, great for collage and backgrounds.

All the pages shown below, click on the images for a better look.

Blackbird and Bottles

The Take a Word challenge this week is blackbird. Bet you didn't expect to see a chicken. Well it is black and is a bird and it is trying to be like a regular 'blackbird'.

I used a label from Graphics Fairy to put on these bottles. The bottles are actually a photograph which I took at Cragside House, but it would have been nicer to have had the real bottles in my possession.