Walt's 80th Birthday Cake

I used to make an awful lot of cakes for friends, family and acquaintences when my husband was stationed in Germany; wedding cakes, christening cakes, birthday cakes, you name it I did it and thoroughly enjoyed it. At one point I was even teaching cake icing. This was great for expressing my artistic leaning and tasted good too! My cakes were fun, thoughtful (I always asked what the recipient liked, fav colour, hobbies etc) and made with a lot of love. Not once did I get a cake returned or a complaint. I miss this but have moved on to other things now.

MARY MAXIM TOTEM POLE CARDIGAN

For years Ive wanted to knit this cardigan but Mum thought I was crazy cause its a man's cardigan. She knitted it for my brother when he was in his very early teens and I always loved the design so this past year I decided now was the time before my hands packed in completely! I used chunky acrylic yarn and it knitted up really quickly. The worst job was finding a source to buy a zip for it!!

Ronnie Bringle's Teddy/Pear/Honeyjar

Ronnie brought this pattern over for me when she did the workshop with us & I have just completed it having found time to paint!!

Ronnie Bringle's Workshop 23rd to 25th Oct 11

Gosh did I have a great time at this workshop!!!! Ronnie is a brill teacher and great character we all really got on great and had loads of laughs as well as being taught some new techniques and ways of working the paints!! The "Rooster on a Fencepost" was the first days painting then "Past Times" was the 2nd & 3rd days project. We used Jo Sonja's paints throughout the workshop and the Past Times project we used tissue to give texture to the surface of the piece! I would certainly paint with Ronnie again in a heartbeat she was so kind and patient with everybody and encouraged us throughout. She must have been tired too as she only came over from the States the day before. Great workshop!!!

A session of brayering and rubber stamping

I used this old stamp Ive had for ages its supposed to be fencing panels so I turned it round and used brown inks to stamp the front of the card then used a makeup sponge and worked it a bit more with the brown ink to blend it in. I then folded a teabag medallion to be the handle and added some butterflies.

Then I opened up the triptych and stamped inside using Lavinia stamps I stamped the trees in dark brown, then centred the door in black and using Lettuce Adirondak and the trusty makeup sponge I coloured the background. The fairy is also stamped in Adirondak inks then I got out my paint brush and bled the inks a little to create shading round the door. The ferns and the leaves are both from Claritystamps using the Lettuce and the toadstools are Lavinia stamps in brown.

I turned to the back cover and using the makeup sponge and Lettuce again I boardered the perimeters and turned the fern upside down to make a frame above the verse which is from Lavinia stamps. The pretty flowers on the bottom were printed in brown then painted with inks from adirondak inkpads.

Workshop with Kirsty

I had a brilliant time on a visit to my friend Kirsty. She had made and shown me some tea light candle holders made with coloured glass and lead frames, they were so good and she said she would be willing to show me how to make them. We had a brilliant time and not only did she teach me the techniques but I also came out with 3 finished projects; the candle holder, a coaster and a brilliant necklace to wear.