They weren't like this...

....when I were a kiddie... Domino's that is... they were ivory/white and chunky, or black and plastic-y... never saw one with flowers, a bee and a ladybird before...

Another swap achieved for UKScrappers, an altered domino. It was a direct 1-2-1 swap and I was allocated Gail, who wanted vintage or nature, so I went with nature.

The flowers are made using the Martha Stewart clay and molds, to begin with I made plain white flowers and painted them purple using PaperArtsy's Fresco Finish chalk acrylic paint in amethyst, which is a dark purple... then I re-read what Gail had said about colours and she is not a fan of purple... so those flowers have gone into the odds'n'sods box for use on something else.

The yellow flowers I made using the white clay and a little of the yellow mixed in to make my own colour, damn but I love these molds as once you have worked out how much clay to put in and squidged it in all the way round, out pops the most perfectly formed flower - so cute!

Once the clay had dried I lightly went over the surface with Spiced Marmalade distress ink, just to give it a bit of contrast colour. There are 2 leaves, one on each of the short ends, but they haven't come out so well.

The domino was coloured using Meadow alcohol ink and some little metal vine-y bits were glued to the long edges. When everything was glued on and dried I gave it several coats of Spray and Shine varnish to try and give some protection to the clay flowers.

The domino was destined to become a bag charm, so needed a "thingy" on the back (which was kindly sent to me by Karen/Kitty Crafts) as I hadn't got a clue what she meant. So the thingy was duly glued on with glossy accents after the back of the domino had been inked with black alcohol ink to disguise the spots.

The little metal bee was a proverbial PITA, it got glued on with glossy accents twice before it decided to stay put, I just hope he survives with Gail longer than he did with me!

The domino has now been received by Gail and she likes it so that's a result. I have yet to receive the domino which has been made for me, I asked for "Butterflies/nature or steampunk - or a mix of all three if my partner is feeling brave enough! Bonus points if they include the colour purple"... looking forward to seeing what I get!

It's beginning to look a lot like... Christmas?

...and we're only just into March... still it's taken me this long to complete the five Christmas-themed layouts from the Total Papercrafts Christmas papers kit, using Jackie da Silva's layout suggestions, but I'm happy with them so that's all that counts.

The papers are Teresa Collins "Santa's List" and are scrummy - first saw them at the ATDML Autumn retreat and wasn't too sure about them... now I have used them I've changed my mind and I like them a lot! The kit had so much in it that I'm sure there's enough to do another one or two, mebbe some ATC's - or I could have a go at making some of my own Project Life cards (might stop me buying them lol....)

 My fella (face blurred by request, he wasn't looking his best!) and my ol' cat Sophie asleep by the tree - the smaller pic has Sophie trying to get under the tree bless her!

 

 

My Christmas tree lights and the crocheted angel made by my friend Ania from Poland

 

My brother and his partner with their Christmas mugs

 

 

Me and my Dad, sadly the last Christmas before he died.

 



 

The tree outside my kitchen window in the snow - shame it's not there now but it did have a lovely shape to it - unfortunately it got rather old and shaky after the autumn storms so the people opposite had it chopped down.

 

And just to change the mood, my final layout is made using Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante papers, the pic is of me at the lavender fields behind Heacham in Norfolk... printed in sepia tones as I thought it went better with the papers like this... Kit was another Total Papercrafts one but again the layout design is based on one that Jackie da Silva designed - I just went a little mad in cutting out flowers and butterflies!