Peacock papercut - prints and cards now in shop...

This post has been a long time coming... and another thing that was on my fast-depleting list of things to do for the bank holiday...

A while ago I posted here and here about a papercut I was doing featuring a white peacock. 





I loved how this turned out, especially as it's a departure from the traditional black-on-white approach. 

I decided to have the image reproduced on greeting cards and art prints and I think they turned out great!





The cards are A6 and come with a brown craft envelope and cellophane sleeve:

They are blank on the inside and have a nice weight to them and matte finish which works really well with the design. 

I've already sent a few to friends and family and had a great response so I'm really happy with these.



Next up were the art prints. I had these done as giclee prints on hahnemuhle photo rag paper, which I have used for printing my art before. I think the quality of the print and paper are just lovely. 

I had these done in A5 and A4 and although I love both, the A4 is really striking and looks amazing with the fine detail of the image. 

I'm glad to finally get these out and into the shop.  

Link to the cards is here and the prints, A5 is here and A4, here. 

Thanks for looking!

Apron with pockets

This weekend I set myself a pretty long 'to-do' list. Typically, I left it all until today. First on my list was to finish an apron I started earlier in the week (part of the A Beautiful Mess Sew with Us course). 

It was pretty great to use up some of the fabric I have collected over the years and never seem to put into action. 

I like how it turned out in general. The original pattern was for a half apron but as I am often a bit of a mess in the kitchen so I wanted to add a top half. I added a bit that was wider at the waist and narrower at the neck - it turned out ok but sort of a little baggy under the chest.....I think I maybe should have done a square? or maybe narrower at the waist (which is what my Mum suggested, I have no idea WHY I didn't listen) Oh well, live and learn. 

Here's the finished piece: 

 



















I put it into action today as another item on my list was to make chocolate chip cookies - I used this recipe and they turned out really well - I always seem to struggle with getting the cookies the right amount of chewy in the middle. I followed the recipe to the tee and it delivered!

Anyway, back to the apron. I'm happy with it, it works (?) and it's nice to have made something cheery and functional. 

Capture Real Life in 52 Weeks - catch up

It's been a while since my last post..... I haven't been immersed in papercutting, but I have been busy with the 'Capture Real Life in 52 weeks' course from A Beautiful Mess.

This course has been so fun. The weekly prompts make me think about different aspects of my daily life and take pictures of things that I wouldn't ordinarily. 

The first week was 'good morning, goodnight' and I posted about it here.

Here's a summary of the past few weeks: 

Week 2: Guilty pleasures - This was hard as I turns out that I don't actually feel that guilty about stuff like music, I love Bon Jovi but I am out and proud about that. But thinking of it, James and I go out for dinner, a lot. I feel guilty about it, and it's (usually) a pleasure! Also, I'm a sucker for a pub...especially this one, a boat with a view of Westminster!

Week 3: Nature - This was not hard at all. And awesomely coincided with James and I doing  a few walks... in particular an 8 mile walk from Richmond to Wimbledon, walking through Richmond Park which is one of the largest parks in London. 

It was pretty great how this theme coincided with the start of spring here. I moan about the weather in the UK pretty much all the time but there the spring flowers here are really the most beautiful thing.

Top left, daffs were at the Horniman Gardens, top right was the Pen Ponds at Richmond Park and left, I'm not quite sure...but these magnolias are all over the place. 










Week 4: Outtakes - Trying to catch the 'inbetween' moments. Fun as not something I haven't tried before. 
















This is by the garages behind our flat (where the foxes live). There is this old guy who goes out every morning at half seven to feed the seagulls. I think he thought I was a bit mad but I really love the way these pictures turned out. 

Week 5: Mini album - So each month there is a challenge to make an album with a different technique, the first one was stamps. I used this as a prompt to start scrapbooking some old stuff, starting with James and I's first holiday in Seville. After my first rocky start with scrapbooking I actually really enjoyed this and the stamps were really fun to use.

 I really liked the stamping made to look like the Seville oranges...














Four weeks done! It's been really fun. I have just finished week 6 so I'll post about that soon.

Worth noting that the course is still available and self-paced so you can still sign up for it...