First ATC swap....

Just wanted to share my first ATC swap with you.  I am a member of UK Handmade and a lovely lady called Kella set up an ATC swap group that I decided to join.  I have never done anything like this before but, ever up for a creative challenge I though it would be a great idea.  The theme for the swap I joined was 'songs'.  This seems to have been approached from lots of angles, I've have just noticed on the Flickr group that one lady has done 'the dawn chorus'... well you can't really get much lovelier music than that can you?

The card I received was from Jane who makes the most beautiful crocheted items and her 'card', I don't really want to call it that because it's made of the most gorgeous golden silks and velvets and beads, is inspired by the most recent album by Corrine Bailey Ray...

Lovely isn't it?

I had to send my ATC to Kella (check her beautiful craft work here) this time.  I think I have mentioned the group Eels before, there isn't an Eels album I don't like and many of their songs I absolutely love.  So I chose, without even realising I was chosing to illustrate yet another Wild Thing, the Eels song 'I Like Birds':

On the back I collaged lots of astronauts and a rocket launch, an auto-car and lots of little birds which I then covered with a layer of tissue paper with my details written on in bestest, neatest handwriting...

I loved making this and can't wait to have a go at another!  Keep an eye out now for the little sparrow - he'll be turning up in jewellery very soon!

Oh, and don't forget to leave a comment on my previous post to be entered for the giveaway!  Ta ta for now, x 

Getting there...

Here is my first finished pendant - made entirely by myself - painting, embroidery, beading, frame, necklace.  You might recognise this image from the Christmas cards I made, but this is a newly, specially painted polar bear for the piece. The back of the pendant is glass too, with the same blue, swirly background as on the front and more of the embroidery.  It is one and a half inches square, so I have a bit more area to play with than with the pendants posted previously.  It was quicker to make than I thought it would be which is great!  Am working on a couple more today, trying to see which images work and which ones don't.

Again, there is not enough daylight though, it is so grey and foggy here.  I really should invest in a good work lamp with daylight bulbs and stop moaning shouldn't I?  While there is still a bit of light left I will go, crank the music up (my lovely husband has just bought me the new Midlake album, been dying to hear it) make some coffee and get more work done. 

Money don't grow on trees...

.... but I have been spending it this week, on materials and bits and pieces, as if it did!!  This week is seeing months worth of ideas and work come together in some designs I have made for pieces of jewellery I hope to begin selling sometime over the next few weeks (when I have my Paypal / bank account sorted :-)  ). I thought I'd post a couple of the pages from my design sketchbook here just to give you a feel for them and see what people think.

Firstly, here are a couple of necklaces I have already made using 'pre-fabricated' sterling silver pendants.  Each pendant is 1" square.  I will eventually have around a dozen of these to sell, each one will be different as the images are all hand drawn and painted individually.  I don't think I will buy any more of these pendants (lovely as they are) as I imported the pieces from the US and was hammered by customs!  I have made the bee necklace to keep and I think I am happier with the silk ribbon / clasp combination here than the one on the toadstool pendant.

I have come up with what I think is a much more interesting solution to make my own pendants for the the next designs..., these will also include a small amount of embroidery and beading (hope I'm not over-egging the pudding).  Hopefully I will have a couple of finished pendants to show you in the next week or so, the square ones will be 1 1/2" square and the rectangular ones will be 1" x 3".  Again, all the designs will be hand drawn / painted / made by me.  As you can see I will be concentrating mainly on 'flora and fauna' as subject matter.

Ignore the odd thing on the right!!  It's meant to be a fern pattern with an embroidery design running through it... it doesn't really work very well does it?  I might use the fern leaf idea for the reverse of some pendants but not sure yet.

There'll be a general 'otherworldly' fairytale quality to everything, I'm obsessed with fairytales, they definitely inspire some of the images.....  anyway, I do hope you like them!

Now I'm off to draw Scout's jar of doggy biscuits from her point of view - for the EDM I have been promising myself I would do all week!