An Owly Giveaway!

Giveaway news over on my facebook page! In an effort to let more lovely people know that I exist I am giving away an owl papercut when I reach 100 likers.

*Please excuse the poor iPad photo, this is the best colour representation* 

If you are interested in winning this owl, hop on over to facebook to find out more and like the page. Over there is where I will post details on how to enter the giveaway when the page reaches 100 likes. Feel free to share with your friends!

In other news, I have uploaded a couple more photos to the fine silver leaf necklace listing on Etsy so Pin away if you are so inclined.

Sari xxx

Do you believe in fairies...?

Well the horrible cold took longer than anticipated to shake off, but I managed to get my first items on etsy and finish off the skill swap cuts, yippee!!

Ok so fairies first...
Cut from amethyst coloured Canford paper, both of these cuts were then mounted on silver Canford paper. There were a few skipped heartbeats when it came to mounting, I can tell you! But I (and they) survived thankfully.

The overall designs included a child's name and date of birth, the fairies are original designs drawn by me.

Also got around to listing a couple of items on etsy, a felted scarf and a silver necklace, although I need better photographs of the latter, maybe a job for this afternoon.....

Currently I am working on a Scandi style family tree papercut commission design, eeeeeeek! I had been hoping to work on a family tree but hadn't expected a request so soon, not that I'm complaining *wink*

So mainly I'm muddling along at a snail's pace, my usual speed when working around Tali, lol! But always welcoming enquiries without advertising, in fact I has two enquiries in two days for babywearing illustrations, it's so nice to be wanted!

Sari xxx

Legal Alien

Phew, what a week! We have spent the past week in London for the small one's therapy and it is like a different planet compared to our little dot on the map. We have managed to come back with colds which has got to be on par with a naff t-shirt *lol*

I didn't get to blog before we went, but I can assure you I was busy doing a bit of this.....

.....which was a test cut for a skill swap design. And I was waiting for these.....

.....all the way from the USA. Plus a few other pots bubbling away in the background.....lips sealed mysteriously!!

I have also started to do a bit of drawing on Tali's iPad while she has a nap, I really need to invest in a better stylus but I'm really pleased with this sketch that I managed to draw from from a photograph yesterday;

The drawing is of me and Tali with our lovely Indie. The app is Paper 53. I can see myself doing a lot more doodles in the future, it is certainly a much easier way to draw when you have a child curled up asleep on your lap!

Now my head is more or less back to normal (albeit a little stuffy) I will finally cutting two skill swap pieces and designing a family tree cut, as well as tending to my bubbling pots *wink*

Stay tuned!!

Sari xxx

Book Review; The Crafter's Guide to Papercutting

Following on from my last post, I thought I would share with you a review on 'The Crafter's Guide to Papercutting' by Emily Hogarth.

First of all I'll start by saying that I love this book. This is the second book I have bought on learning to papercut and it is a vast improvement on the first. There isn't actually much to papercutting really but there is some stuff you need to know if you want to get off on the right foot, and 'TCGtP' has got it all in there. The layout is simple and clear, with step-by-step instructions and photographs. The author also talks about folded and multi-layer cuts, how to finish your work and covers designing your own papercuts. I was very impressed with the projects section, each is accompanied by excellent instructions and tips with the design template to the back of the book so plenty to practise with!

Overall I would definitely recommend 'The Crafter's Guide to Papercutting'. I love the bold designs and the way that Emily Hogarth makes the craft both simple and fun, even the more complex cuts. In fact, the only thing missing is a supplies/stockists page as I always appreciate being pointed in the direction of good websites supplying quality materials.

If you would like to find out more about Emily Hogarth, here is a link to her website.

I tried out a couple of templates from 'TCGtP' which you can see here and since then I have cut my own design 'live an enchanted life' and a rearing Arab horse which was reproduced from a photograph.

Sari xxx

Mostly Paper

Well it seems I had an intended 'break' from the blog over the festive period. We had a quiet family time, I had previously celebrated the Winter Solstice as the end of one year and the beginning of the next as the days begin to get gradually longer.

I have managed to get a small amount of crafting done, finally finding time to wet felt my merino/silk blend top into a short scarf. I chose the Woodland colourway and I absolutely love it. The silk fibre has given the scarf a beautiful sheen and amazing softness.

As you might have noticed, I have also changed my hair colour. I had been thinking about it for a little while and finally took the plunge, I love it! 

I've also been able to do a bit of papercutting which I am really enjoying. Here is a photo of my first attempts, the heart and circle are my first cuts from 'The Crafter's Guide to Papercutting' book by Emily Hogarth. They are both folded cuts that could do with an iron but I love the 'folky' style. The horse cuts are from random images but they have really inspired me.

So following the horse cuts and having read about layered cuts in Emily Hogarth's book, I quickly carved out this cut;

This cut has two sheets of cut paper and white as the bottom layer. I cut it in such a way as to show the white markings on a Welsh Cob silhouette. It was done in a hurry so not perfect on close inspection but I'm really pleased with it, it has really inspired me and I'm finding myself really excited about this really simple craft.

Hope you like what I have been up to, I have a few projects planned around Tali, life, and working with our ponies, one major project is a new sling for Tali that I desperately need but keep putting off. Must.Get.On.With.It. Lol!!

Sari xxx

First Snowflake of 2012!

For me anyway!! We tend to have more rain, mist and drizzle than snow here is Wales.....

Ok, so we may not have had snow but I don't let things like that get in the way of my love of snowflakes, which brings me to the holiday fibre art piece I made for an international exchange.

I started by wet felting white merino topped with two shades of grey and a sprinkling of silver glitter. Once the piece had dried I needlefelted the snowflake design with a bit of help from a ruler and a protractor. Then I gently wet felted in the snowflake. Finally I added some tiny clear glass seed beads.

Overall I was really pleased with how well this project turned out as previously I have never used glitter or needlfelted then wet felted a design. I can't wait to do more!

Sari xxx

Feeling the cold!

Well it's been a fortnight since my last post! Where has the time gone? I seem to have been busy being busy but failing to achieve a great deal.

Bath Christmas Market was not much to write home about which was a shame. Bath itself was beautiful though, lots of lovely little independent stores as well as some chain stores that don't appear on the average high street! Still, we didn't come away with much so I'm not sure what I'm going to do about my gift shopping, ooops!!

I'm feeling quite tired recently, my poor OH is working lots of hours right now which means I am home caring for Tali on my own as well as seeing to the ponies twice a day. I seem to slow down quite a lot in the cold weather. I haven't found the time yet to felt my merino/silk scarf I have laid out ready but I have my fingers crossed to get it done soon as I need my desk space back hehe.

I have been doing a little needle felting when I am motivated enough which is part of something for Tali, once I have a little more done I'll post a photo. We also made glitter glue snowflakes and stars which are hanging in the glass panels of our front door. I did make some impressive PVA snowflakes sprinkled with glitter but disappointingly they curled up, oh well.....
I managed to get hold of some Angelina fibres from a Hobbycraft store so I have a few ideas for some flat felted pictures combining the Angelina which I'll probably get around to in the New Year. I've also got a few books that I'm planning to review here, a couple of them being; 'Carnival of Felting' by Gillian Harris, and 'The Crafter's Guide to Papercutting' by Emily Hogarth. Until then I'll leave you with a photo of my recent purchase.

Sari xxx