More Buggy Things

These are a few more of the Bug Plaques I've made. I think over time I've probably made at least a couple of dozen......bugs are fun!

Most of the bug plaques start out with a wooden base of some kind, then I make the polymer clay tiles and texture them to my liking.

I've been playing around with nail polish as enameling for a while now and really like the way it looks with the brass glowing through the color.

I like to use brads and stuff like old nails to add more texture to the plaques. Plus, it's a great reason to muck around in old junk shops!
Thanks for stopping by and having a look!

Year of the Cicada and other buggy things

This is the year the cicadas come out of their seventeen year sleep, rise from the ground and cause havoc...they eat, work hard at making little baby cicadas and lay their eggs in the smaller branches of hardwood trees.
Aside from the yuck factor I feel when I think about a plague of cicadas, they are also pretty fascinating creatures as are most insects......if you happen to like buggy things as I do.

Inspired by the seventeen year locust, this is a plaque made from wood polymer clay and brass findings. The beautifully made cicada is a raw brass stamping I found online at Vintage Jewelry Supplies. I enameled him with nail polish applied with fine brushes. Nail polish remover will clean the brushes okay, but best to have a couple for dedicated use and don't spend a lot of dollars on them as they don't last long!
The clay tiles were cut out with cookie cutters and textured
with various stamps and tools with interesting patterns.
The color is painted on with acrylics.
The leaves are also brass stampings enameled with nail polish.
The wooden plaque everything rests on was primered, then painted with gold acrylic paint and then a layer of Quinacridone Gold was washed over the top to give it a richer look.

What the Bee Knows 2

Altered Matchbox Triptych inspired by P.L. Travers, the author of the 'Mary Poppins' books and a wonderful collection of her articles from 'Parabola' magazine called 'What the Bee Knows'.
A very interesting and long-lived woman, she met many other famous writers, artists and poets in her time, including Peter Llewelyn Davies, (J. M. Barrie's son and her publisher) and W. B. Yeats.

The lavender came from my garden as well as the wee twigs.
Thanks for stopping by!

Accordion Pocket Book for ATC's!

The fabulous Alpha Stamps has some wonderful themes this spring, one of which is "Pocket Books".
Here is one I made that will hold some favorite ATC's or maybe lovely small postcards.

I started out with the Square Accordion Chipboard Book. I cut off a couple pages because I wanted a slightly shorter book, but you can make yours any length you choose.
I chose my papers according to what combinations pleased me to look at when the book is fully opened and cut them to size. I glued all the papers in front and back and set the book aside to dry.
Note: All the papers used were from the  Graphic45 French Country Paper 12x12 individual sheets.

While the book was drying, I cut out the basic pockets making sure to cut slightly large to accommodate a glue line and an ATC and matched them to the papers I thought they looked best on. I carefully glued them (edges only....remember you have to leave enough space for an ATC to fit in the pocket!) on and whilst they were drying I cut out lots of individual flowers from the Sunflower Scrapbook Page and glued them in sort of random pleasing spots around the book, keeping in mind a general balance in the overall look of the book fully opened.

I trimmed a few of the pockets with the Black Zig Zag Dresden Border and the Thin Dresden Border.
I also sprinkled a few lovely bits of the French Country Die-Cut Banner pieces on the pockets and the back and front cover of the book. To attach the ribbons, I glued them to a couple of the banner pieces, let them dry and then glued those to the book, front and back.


And of course, I had to put something in the pockets.......
I cut out some of the images on the A La Carte Scrapbook Paper page.
They're so pretty, I might just leave them in there and make another book for ATC's!

Thanks for stopping by!

An Altered Tin

Looking into the Wood.....an altered Altoid tin.

Inspired by the great Russian illustrator Ivan Bilibin, who illustrated some of the most beautiful fairy tales of the twentieth century.