Everything Old Is New Again

Both of these 6x6 inch mini canvases were recently reburbished, for want of a better word!

They were 1st created in 2010 but I always felt that something was missing on both of them so this past month I decided to add a few extras here + there and am happier with them the way they are now :)

Thanks for visiting :o)

Watercoloured Butterfly Ensemble

After creating oodles of 8X10 butterfly pieces that are 3D, a couple of customers' requests meant that it was about time that I brought together some of my watercolour backgrounds with butterflies in an 11X14 inch size and this is the 1st one.

Because the watercoloured background paper was not as large as I would have painted had I planned on creating this, I've called this Ensemble.  My hope is to create the next one with lots more butterflies and another down the road that's a myriad of miniature butterflies.

What are YOU making??

My 1st Triptych

I've been quite busy lately with custom orders in my Etsy shop but recently had time to attempt something new!

Voila! My very 1st TRIPTYCH featuring Amy Butler double-sided paper in various sizes of butterflies with the largest being about 2 inches and the smallest about 1 inch -- this same triptych can be hung in 2 ways, giving very different effects --

HORIZONTALLY ~ 10" high X 24" wide / side to side --

VERTICALLY ~ 24" high X 10" wide / top to bottom

Although this particular one has been created using fuschia, green and blue, I also custom create them to suit a customer's colour choices and/or decor in all sorts of materials ... be it patterned designer paper, card stock or upcycled materials ~ the imagination is the only limit :)

Happy Weekend ahead!!

PS -- I'm delighted to report that this triptych has been SOLD :)

It's Been a LONG Time

It's been such a long time since I've taken the time to post anything here!!

In mid-March my husband had open heart surgery to replace a defective valve .... his shortness of breath came on suddenly just after Christmas and we had absolutely NO idea that it was because of something this serious!

I'm thankful and happy to report that he is back to normal and ready to return to work next week :)

In the midst of his recovery, I've managed to keep up with my custom orders via Etsy and special gift creations for family and friends for various special occasions so this weekend I took the time to work on a couple of small canvases and will share 1 of them today --

I am called upon to create all sorts of special collages using upcycled vintage childrens books and had a few pages hanging around my craft table so used all of them to create this 8X10 canvas. Included are:

• Richard Scarry
• Enid Blyton [Noddy]
• Classic Winnie the Pooh
• Mercer Mayer

I need to at least attempt to keep this blog more up-to-date in the future :)

Upcycling Bits and Pieces

I always have lots of bits and pieces of paper ~ card stock, double-sided designer papers ~ left over after I've completed various projects and these 5X7s are a great way to use them up!

Hiving Out: Thursday, Richard Scarry, and Etsy

Delighted to have my upcycled Richard Scarry baby elephants included in today's post at HIVING OUT  entitled THURSDAY, RICHARD SCARRY and ETSY!!

Custom Canvas Order

I'm super busy over the next several days working on 2 custom canvases -- both measure 16" X 20" and are for a very special Christmas present for an American customer.

I will be able to post photos of the actual custom order AFTER Christmas so that the surprise is kept for the lucky recipient :)

I've Been Stalked in a Good Way

Being *stalked* by ETSY STALKER is a great thing ~ it gives lots of exposure and I really appreciate it :)

Winter White 3D Butterflies

 

  

While my husband and his 2 brothers were playing guitar and singing last evening, like they do every Wednesday, I created this in my craft room, happy to be serenaded while doing something I enjoy!!

I'm now working on a similar one using a recycled copy of Jane Austen's PRIDE + PREJUDICE but on black card stock rather than the heavy watercolour paper used for this one.

Autumn Melted Crayon Upcycled Art

I received a wonderful surprise yesterday when TEAM UPCYCLERS' blog featured my shop and this particular creation on SUSTAINABLE SUNDAYS.

I've recently begun trying my hand at encaustic painting in the European way which is using a special craft iron and melting the wax against it and using the iron as a paint brush. 

Since I only had an old box of Crayola crayons laying around, that's what I've been using but I'm interested enough and having so much fun that I think proper encaustic wax blocks and a proper iron might be on my Christmas wish list this year :)

Made Etsy FRONT PAGE for the 1st Time!

I'm very excited to have made Etsy's FRONT PAGE for the very 1st time last night and I found out quite by accident :)

Handmade Top 10 -- Children

I am delighted to have made HANDMADE's Top 10 LIST on July 25th for their CHILDREN category!

Handmade Top 10 -- Yellow

It was a surprise to me to learn from Heritage Knitting that I had made HANDMADE's Top Ten List for YELLOW on  July 4th ~ my submission is #10 -- black and yellow 3D butterflies.

Handmade Top 10 -- Posh Nursery

I am delighted to have made HANDMADE's Top 10 LIST for items #1 and #2 as a member of Etsy Team Posh Nursery!

Thanks to anyone who may have taken the time out of their busy day to vote :)

Not Just for Father's Day

Found this beautiful poem that says everything I'd want to say to my father if he were still alive ~ and not just for Father's Day but for ANY special time like a gift for a brand new Daddy or for a daughter's wedding!!

Memorial or Keepsake 3D Art -- Heart of Butterflies -- 8X10

I've finally come up with MEMORIAL keepsake made from butterflies formed into the shape of a heart.

Here is a collage of photos taken at various angles ~

Here's the boys' version --

This one is for those who may have had a miscarriage and are not sure of the baby's sex --

See and Feel the Textures

Quite some time ago I picked up a few old magazines that had been discarded from our local library and recently have had time to browse through them to see if anything caught my eye.

This 5X7 butterfly 3D piece was created using a wrinkled glossy page from a Canadian magazine called STYLE AT HOME.

The colours are bright and what really caught my eye is the various textures depicted in each photograph.

If you look very closely at the next photo at the BOTTOM / RIGHT hand corner, you'll see I was able to save the word FEEL which was written across the blade of grass.

Personalized Gift for a Baby's Birth

This is the sample I had listed in my Etsy shop as well as on my Facebook page and someone contacted me about creating something special for their niece with the primary shade being purple or lilac.

Here are a few layouts and colour combos that I came up with for her to choose from -- I even managed to add an extra purple monarch butterfly to the circle :) 

Guess which layout and colour combo she chose from the next 3 photos!

If you guessed the very LAST set of photos, you'd be right :)

Fiddleheads Kids Shop

I paid a visit to FIDDLEHEADS Kids Shop this afternoon where I've had 4 of my creations *on consignment* since mid February.

They emailed me a couple of weeks ago to let me know that the Noddy Books Recycled - Baby Elephant Collage was sold to a delighted customer.

I took in an assortment of creations today so Nancy [co-owner, shown in top right photo] could  could choose which they wanted to keep in the store and to my delight, she took ALL but two of them!

You can imagine how happy that made me!!?

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COLLAGE PHOTOS
Top Left ~ Bon Voyage Postage Stamp 3D Butterfly Art
Bottom Left ~ *NEW* Flutterby Treasure ~ 16X20 gallery wrapped canvas
Bottom Middle ~ Anne Geddes Recycled Baby Elephants
Bottom Right ~ Green Fluttering Skyward 3D Butterfly Art 

Give Away Coming Up on Facebook --- WINNER Chosen!!

As a way of saying THANKS to everyone who has shown their support and LIKED my Facebook page, I've decided to have a GIVE AWAY as soon as I hit 150 LIKES!

The WINNING NAME will be chosen via Random.org from those 150 LIKES and the WINNER will be able to have a 5X7 collage CUSTOM CREATED --- THEIR CHOICE for COLOURS and/or THEME.

Browse my ETSY SHOP to get ideas for what you might want.

It's my way of saying THANK YOU to Everyone!!

The winner's name was chosen via Random.org and posted Mar 16th!!