'I am Youth, I am Joy...'

Hi all

Just popped in to drop off some sneaks of my latest offering for the latest issue of Scrap365 which is on the shelves NOW!! (craft shops and WHSmith) Do you have yours?

I have mine and I was really tickled to see that this issue I am the centrefold LOL and before that conjures up images best not thought about the picture is of my birds nest project!

 

This is one of those projects that I was REALLY, REALLY pleased with. It lived in my head for months before finally tumbling out and was all inspired by a 50p bridesmaid posy holder!

 

This issue of Scrap365 is all about upcycling, re purposing and using up what we have squirreled away in our craft rooms proving that we don't need to spend a fortune to indulge our addiction .... oops I mean hobby :D

I have to give a big shout out to the photography department for the magazine, I love the way they have set up the photos (with the help of our fab editor!) and executed them superbly not just for my project of course but for the whole magazine, it's a visual delight!

To accompany my project I have posted a Step by step on the Scrap365 blog so please do hop on over to see how I did it and see how to transform some tin foil, tissue paper, polystyrene shapes, music paper and of course that posy holder into (what I think) is a beautiful piece of home décor.

 

I hope you enjoy and I hope you get to grab a copy of the magazine to be inspired by all the other glorious projects held within ..... A sunny afternoon, a quiet hour by yourself, maybe a cheeky glass of cold white wine and a superb magazine packed with crafty delights .... what could be better? In fact that's me doing that right now once I have signed off ;)

CHEERS :D

Thanks for popping by I am lining up some posts for you, a few tutorials, frequently asked questions answered, a project revisited and a bit of general life so until I *see you* soon, as ever,
Happy Crafting
Love
MJM x

Scrap Around the World EPIC event!

Hi all

So do you remember me posting at the beginning of the month about the Scrap Around the World EPIC event? Well today is the turn of the uber talented Scrap365 DT to play along and I am lucky enough to be in there too!

 

Scrap Around the World is an amazing challenge blog they release a mood board to work with every month, you get to play along and you get to be chosen for the wall of fame and let me tell you there is inspiration by the bucket load over there from the lovely Helen Tilbury's design team and from the international blog visitors that share their work ... if you haven't checked it out please do and you're not too late to play along with the EPIC event, lots of amazing goodies up for grabs from some amazing sponsors!!

This is the mood board for the EPIC event

 

Please pop over to Scrap Around the World to see all the layouts from the sponsors so far and please pop on over to the Scrap365 blog to see what our DT has done .... gorgeous work that's what!!! BUT before you go here's my offering with some close ups

 

My lovely niece on her 17th birthday. I guess the reference to 'celebrate' on the mood board inspired me to choose this photo as I received the board just after her birthday. I love the fresh colours of the mood board with the turquoise and pink and decided to leave a lot of white space to keep the airy light feel I got from seeing it.

 

The balloons made me think of flying away so I decided to splat the colour onto the page instead of making it too heavy. I used a slightly watered acrylic paint to do this and kept the splats quite thick to add texture. If you have a go at this clear your work space and even take your page outside to splat it if you can, no matter how careful you are the paint gets everywhere LOL Once the paint was completely dry I applied gilding flake glue along the edges of the runs, using my finger to spread it and then used gilding flakes to add the gold like there is at the bottom of the balloons on the mood board

 

I picked out the pinks and turquoises from the mood board with flowers, dew drops and liquid pearls...

 

... as well as with ribbons, lace and twine for added texture

 

To me the doyley added that last bit of birthday tea party feel inspired by the photo of the macaroons.

 

and lastly the typeset on the mood board inspired me to add some of my own handwriting in different colours and styles

 

I hope you like my take on the mood board, I really had fun creating it! Please go and check out all the many, many different interpretations of it on Scrap365 and ultimately on the Scrap Around the World blog, you will be inspired just by the sheer amount of different takes on it let alone by the beautiful work produced! I look forward to seeing your interpretation!!!

 

Thanks for popping by, I hope you're well and happy. I'll be back soon with some stuff ... not sure what yet but lots in the pipeline :) and will definitely be back next Tuesday with my step by step tutorial for my little birdie project in this months Scrap 365 magazine ... have you got yours yet?

 

Until soon, as ever,

Happy Crafting!

Love

MJM x

A Floral gallivant .... the results!

Hi all

Last weekend I told you I was off to Chatsworth House with my mum for a Floral gallivant to attend Florabundance and that I would be back with the results of my first serious floral workshop well here we go!

We had the most amazing time, it was my first trip to Chatsworth House and it won't be my last, it really is an amazing place and the staff looked after us so well. Florabundance happens once a year here and it is all created by the uber talented Jonathan Moseley international flower demonstrator and star of the recent allotment challenge on BBC2 among other things. Every room we went in or corridor we walked down held floral beauty all influenced this year by the art collection at Chatsworth. I have managed to reduce the 200 plus photos down and then put those in to collages so I don't drown you in photos but I have to share a flavour of the trip with you and also say if you can get to go next year ... do it!

 

There really was flowers to spot everywhere from huge arrangements to gorgeous fire places to incidental flowers along the way! There was a breath taking installation in the entrance too but my photos don't really do it justice so I haven't included them, it was a 'you just had to be there' moment!

 

This was a take your breath away moment in the chapel with a Damien Hirst sculpture of St Bartholomew in the centre and the floral arrangements reflecting the story.

 

and another one..... just a small table setting!!!

 

The Sculpture room was a sight to behold .... I have never seen so many roses in one place and they looked so rich with their colour against the white sculptures... just beautiful!

 

But my favourite thing had to be this room filled with silver beech. It stopped me in my tracks as I walked in. Again its difficult to get the same effect in photos but it was an amazing installation and I think it spoke to the theatre designer in me with the way it filled the space so dramatically with the beautiful trees dripping with amaryllis.

 

After enjoying the delights of the house we got to see the man himself work his flower magic with an amazing demonstration. The stage was full of glorious colour and Jonathan made it look so effortless

 

And to round that day off I was lucky enough to win one of the fabulous arrangements to bring home! Me and mum stayed at the Devonshire Arms in Baslow and I can highly recommend it .... the food was amazing!

 

So with a good breakfast inside us we were back off to Chatsworth for Workshop day ... eek! I was scared to death I have to say, I love flowers and seeing what talented people like Jonathan do with them but flowers don't always love me LOL but Jonathan was very patient and a great teacher and we had a blast!

 

The room was full of boxes of flowers that came at us thick and fast once we got going, hence the lack of pics ;) But what a joy to spend a day surrounded by colour, fragrance, my mum and even 3 more of the Guisborough flower club possee. We also had an amazing lunch as part of the day and got to walk away with 2 arrangements each ... are you ready for my results?

 

This was the first one and was based around a technique involving embroidery with flowers. The base is a glass bowl covered in textures with wool and flowers and then the top is a floral arrangement, I had great fun with the glue gun for the base and was thrilled I actually did the arrangement!

 

The second was based around the Dutch floral paintings in the house and is an amazing riot of colour all set in a hollowed out cabbage! ... Genius!

 

I was really rather pleased with my efforts and maybe think I could get the hang of this amazing craft if I had the time in my life to let another creative venture in!! So I guess I will keep going to the dems to be inspired (and I do get a lot of inspiration for my projects from watching flower dems!) and dabble here and there ;)

 

So that's our trip to Chatsworth .... if you get the chance to go, do visit and also if you get the chance to ever see Jonathan demonstrate or even attend one of his workshops do!!!

 

Thanks for popping by so I can share my adventures with you, I'll be back really soon with the Scrap365 part of the EPIC event with Scrap Around the world. In the meantime I hope you are well and happy and until soon, as ever,

Happy Crafting!

Love

MJM x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Timeless, Elegant Grunge!

Hi all

This past week we had a 4 Day Deal on Create and Craft TV from Serif and Graphic Authority. Unfortunately I wasn't able to be with you all at the beginning of the week but did my Ninja Demo'er trick on Thursday and guested for the last show. I absolutely LOVE the kits we had on:

(exclusive to Create and Craft tv until the end of June 2014)

 

At this point I am calling not only all digi crafters to do yourselves a favour and grab these kits but also I am shouting out to all my other crafty friends .... even if you have never digi crafted or had any desire to, this is an ultimate collection to create your own papers to craft with however you want! And don't think of it as just the titles, yes the 8 Timeless kits have a heritage feel and The Edge Grunge and Elegant suit their names BUT think outside the box! Layered on different backgrounds and using different colours these kits can be any style you want! I think it is genius (while also feeling a little guilty about giving away trade secrets on how layers in papers are created especially when it is so easy at the touch of a button with CraftArtist 2 professional!)

 

 

You will need this software to access the digi kit contents but let me tell you it is soooo worth it! Overlays galore to create with; splats, creases, patterns, distressing, text, flourishes ...... and it goes on! Colour them, blend them, digi stamp them, make them metal .... your creative imagination is your own limit! 

I thought I would share some of my sample pics in this post and then I am planning to do a few tutorial posts soon to show you how easy it is to create unique, professional looking backgrounds with these kits ;)
These 3 projects are mainly created with The Edge Grunge digi kit .... with different colours and effects they all look so different!

 

 

These 3 projects are mainly created from the 4 Timeless 1 kits

 

 

While these 3 are created mainly using the 4 Timeless 2 kits ... look at the variation!

 

 

 

 

And finally these 3 projects are created mainly with The Edge Elegant kit

 

 

And these are pics of some of the other samples on the show created by the Serif DT a beautiful vintage feel to these!

There is hours of fun to be had with these kits and hundreds of bespoke backgrounds to create! I'll be back soon with some tutorials to help you on your way to creating and will be back sooner with some pics of my fabulous floral trip to Chatsworth :)

 

Thanks for popping by and I hope you're all well and happy! So until soon, as ever,

Happy Crafting!

Love

MJM x 

 

 



 

On a journey with a Prima review

Hi all

Over at Scrap365 this month we have been reviewing some Prima goodies, you really need to check out all the review posts if you haven't seen them as the DT have done some awesome work and it amazes me the diversity of the collections we all had to play with!

I got to play with some product from The Cartographers collection and I created these 3 projects

 

If you hop on over to the Scrap365 blog I have posted a few step by step pics and instructions and also you can read what I thought about the collection .... needless to say all good ... after all it's Prima :D .... enjoy!

 

Please check out the other reviews too you will be inspired and don't forget we regularly review new product over on the blog as well as lots of other bits and pieces to accompany the magazine so why not book mark it as a favourite place to get your mojo going!!

 

Thanks for popping by and join me at the weekend to see how that floral art workshop went ... If I dare share LOL

I hope you're well and happy and as ever, until soon,

 

Happy Crafting

Love

MJM x

 



A Floral galavant!

Hi all

This weekend I am taking my mum away for a couple of days here ...

 

 

To Chatsworth house to see the fabulous floral arrangements by this lovely man

 

World renowned Flower arranger and now of TV fame

 

He has decorated the whole house with flowers for Florabundance running until Tuesday and the theme is flowers in art

 

And I know it will be STUNNING! This was his Monet garden at the Chelsea flower show

 

AMAZING!
But I also go with trepidation as we are also doing an all day workshop with him on Monday

EEK!!! Now I don't do flower arranging and most plants that cross my path don't seem to fair too well so I am a little scared but I will have my Mum and some of her friends to guide me and hopefully Jonathan will be gentle with me!

I will posts my results when I get back if they are worthy of a public airing LOL

Pics won't go on until next weekend though as I will be busy at the Create and Craft TV studios on Wednesday and Thursday taking over the Serif 4 day deal from the capable hands of Charlotte and Becky who will be there to launch it for you. BUT by the power of cyber space I will be here with you with a review on some Prima goodies on the 13th ... see you then :)

Whatever you do this weekend I hope you enjoy it and until soon as ever
Happy crafting
Love
MJM x



 



 

It's Epic!!!

Hi all

No excuses, no begging forgiveness for my absence and all that I know I just need to get my blogging backside in gear LOL and this month is gonna be EPIC! in more ways than one!!

First up is this

EPIC ANNIVERSARY EVENT COMPETITION AT SCRAP AROUND THE WORLD

 



That link will take you to the uber inspirational challenge blog Scrap Around the World where the lovely Helen Tilbury will share instructions on how you can play along and get your mitts on some AMAZING crafty prizes! Scrap 365 magazine has been invited along to join in the celebrations and I was lucky enough to go along and play

 

 

Click the badge and it will take you to the Scrap Around the World blog .... be prepared though your jaw will drop when you see the amazing work on there ... it is a challenge blog and then some with inspiration by the bucket load!!

 

 

The challenges on the blog every month come from mood boards, here's the one that we had as a starting point

 

 

There are already layouts up on the blog from the SATW design team and there are many, many more to come from the teams that are guesting this month as part of the celebrations so you need to check out the Scrap Around the World blog regularly starting from the 11th May for the rest of the month to see the many diverse interpretations of the mood board .... I know it will inspire me! Scrap365 magazine team are up on the 20th May so I will share my effort ;) And don't forget to check out the prize list and read about all the amazing companies involved in this EPIC event!

 

 

And talking of inspiration before you go have you got yours?

 

 

Out today!!!! Available in WHSmith, craft stores and of course on the website. Summery inspiration to chase away the grey sky and showers and a little project

 

 

By yours truly that I can't wait for you to see in its entirety .... but you'll have to buy the mag ;) Oh and there will be a tutorial going on line to see how I created it on the 25th May so go grab a copy and enjoy .... this too is EPIC ;)

 

Ok I am loving and leaving you .... what else is epic? well I may be here a few times in the coming weeks, maybe it will kick start my blogging mojo? who knows funnier things happen at sea!

 

Until soon I hope you are all well and happy and as ever

Happy Crafting

Love

MJM x