Batman and the Princess

For every card I make, it has to be relevant to the recipient. I can't just make a batch of cards up and then chose one to send. This doesn't work for me. The only time I do any different is when it's time to make cards for Christmas. The way I do these is to have a theme and/or colour scheme. Last years' cards were a contemporary theme. But never mind Christmas, I don't even think about that until October at the earliest! Anyway,here are two of the birthday cards which I've made for this month. One of our grand daughters was three and the theme for her card this year was princesses and pink. This is a C5 card...... ...the background paper I printed off from my Craft Artist cd rom. I changed the colour to this gorgeous pink, ( it's actually brighter than in the picture) then I used my Sizzix crown die and cut one in baby pink and one in 300gsm white card. I glued the two die cut crowns together and once dry I went through my box of "sparkle"s and decorated it with flat back pearls and clear gems, some gems on a strip of silver thread (which I've had for ages and still have more left) and also used some Art Institute fine glitters, in various shades of gold, pink and white, to add more sparkle. That was then mounted onto the card with 3d foam. The picture was a recent one and that too was mounted on white card stock and edged with baby pink glitter..... .....the wording I did on the computer, cut out and mounted and finished as I did the the picture. I finished off with some clear glitter glue around the edges and added some to the background on the fairy coaches and horses. I did an insert to match but omitted to photograph it! .....The second card was for our sons' birthday. Every year I do a different theme for him. This year I chose Batman. He's a great artist (and still draws and paints when he gets time) and he and our grandson share the love of Batman computer games! This card is also C5, in black 300gsm. The background image and the main image were from a book. I cut out the pieces I wanted (It's a damaged book) and mounted them onto the black card. The image of Batman was mounted on black 3d foam (I made it from black funky foam and double sided tape, much cheaper doing it this way)..... ..The wording I again did on my computer. I used a shadow effect on the words as I wanted it to look grungy and Gothic. I then clear embossed it and then crackled it (in the fridge)..... .... for the insert ( again, didn't photograph it. Too busy thinking of my holidays!) I scanned in the picture of Batman and printed it out landscape to fit the card. Using my decorative scissors I cut all around the edge of the insert. It turned out great because the edge resembled the shape of bats! To finish off I scanned in one image of the bat logo and filled a sheet with them. I cut them out...... ....and folded the wings slightly and these were then placed loose inside the card. When the card was opened the bats were "released", it worked perfectly. Both cards turned out exactly as I wanted them too, and both our grand daughter and son were thrilled with them. I finished these cards before we went on holiday as both birthdays were whilst we were away. I've now got three more cards to make before the middle of July. I think I know which themes I shall be doing. We've just had two wonderful weeks away in Cornwall. We've both returned home refreshed and revitalised. I have loads of ideas and jottings in my notebook, and I just have to sit down and get them in some sort of order. We went to so many places and took so many photographs, it was wonderful! I have a couple of ufo's to finish but then I can begin on my new projects. Tomorrow I will be spending some time in the garden, everything is growing lovely now. There's also housework to do (isn't there always!) but I shall go through that like a blur so I can crack on with more exciting things!!

The Memoirs of a Knitted Geisha!

Well, she's finished. Apart from the decoration for her hair. So here she is.... ......the clarity of the picture isn't great, (that's down to me not the camera) the light wasn't great, and I'm trying to catch up with things before we head off on holiday at the weekend! So, I was going to knit her as per the pattern. As you can see ( if you have the pattern yourself) I did make some changes. I didn't like the embroidered flowers on the original pattern, so I went for a rosebud effect... .... the obi I kept plain...... ....although I may add a couple of rosebuds at the back. On the original pattern the footwear had two horizontal straps..... .....I wasn't keen on that idea, so I attempted to recreate the original style. It was on her head that I made quite a few changes...... ..... that turned out quite different to the original. I think it's because when I wound the strands, I wound it tighter than I should have, so maybe I should have used more yarn. I gave her a nose, purely and simply because I think it needed to be there. Here red lips are a small v and not a straight line as in the pattern and her eyes are smaller than the original too. I need to sit and sort through my bead collection to find suitable pieces for her hair, (maybe this evening) to finish to look. My overall verdict of this pattern is that there are too many pieces. I have already made some notes in my design book and I shall make another doll from scratch with my own pattern with less pieces and more shape. I'm happy with how it turned out, but not 100% and next time I shan't use double knitting yarn I shall use 4 ply. I have quite a few images of Geisha, these are from a collection of stamps, matchbox labels and postcards which belonged to my late father. So I shall study these, make a few notes and try some shapes. It's also got me thinking of another project witch I could use these images on, my brain never stops!! I did manage to get all the family birthday cards completed, I shall post these later. This afternoon I have baking to do. One Victoria sponge, one chocolate sponge and one apple cake. These are for Mick to take to work this evening as it's his birthday. So that's my afternoon sorted. Now, when's that rain going to stop!!