Bee creative on 4 on a Friday

I'm always up for trying something new on the crafting front and for a while I've been pondering the idea of digital. Is it something I'd enjoy? Would I even be any good at it? Would the creative process be the same?

I've admired Alexa's skill with digital for some time and yesterday she was kind enough to share some of her knowledge with a tutorial for placing a photo inside 4 frames. Right this was my chance - do it. I had a few hiccups to start with and I think Mr P was a bit worried about the amount of cursing that was coming from the laptop especially when his handy hints didn't help. I got so far and hit a brick wall but Alexa came to the rescue and after her help and encouragement I created this.

Now, you may be thinking what's all the fuss about but I feel a real sense of achievement at getting this far and I'm waiting for more handy tips so I can add some text at a later date (hint, hint). The frame is actually offset on a white background. I took the photo myself with a point and shoot in my garden and I must have had bees on my mind as this week I also created this.

After a clearing and sorting expedition (I blame Julie and her badges and I still haven't found them!) I came across some beeswax which I'd had for ages for some long forgotten craft project. I took a piece of mountboard and covered it in book pages and some poppy paper napkin. The 'for you' is stamped onto some calico. That's the great thing about using beeswax you can use just about anything and stamp some texture into it too. You can just about see the stamped bit highlighted with some perfect pearls. I had fun experimenting.

Finally if you do 'hop' over to Alexa's today you might see someone you recognise

4 on Friday (5)

Another week passes without any scrapping completed but it's still been a creative week. I really liked the photo mosaic I created a few weeks ago for 4 on Friday instead of a layout so I thought I'd try it again.

The first photo is of my attempt at making mini pistachio macaroons . I didn't just make one - this one just happens to be the most photogenic and even then it doesn't look great but they taste pretty nice with a chocolate filling. I don't think I ground my pistachios fine enough but we live and learn. I felt inspired after watching The Great British Bake Off which features the fabulous Paul Hollywood. (He makes the most fantastic bread and we are lucky enough to have him selling it at our local farmers market.) I've been wanting to try and make this type of macaroon for a while after finding out about Laduree How I'd love to visit one of their shops. I think I need to investigate more recipes and techniques and give it another go. Either that or stick to my simpler fail safe recipe which is a traditional type of macaroon.

Next up some flowers I made from offcuts of fabric including organza and satin. Have you seen these types flowers? You have to heat the edges near a naked flame which burns and seals them without setting fire to them! Not easy and I don't really recommend it but I like how these turned out.

My own sewing project was interupted by helping a small person with theirs so the sewing project I was going to share this week has been slightly delayed but all in a good cause. The little lady in question required a cover made for a cushion she needs for her new school. She had very strong views about what was going to feature on her cushion and Hello Kitty won the day. I appliqued some felt which I happened to have in just the right colours.

....and lastly my own kitty, one elderly, grumpy, deaf cat called Fergus but you've got to love him :-)

4 on Friday (3)

I'm just in time to share my 4 on Friday and this week it's a layout. I wasn't sure I'd get around to it but after a bit of crafting time this afternoon I produced this.......... I used the same basic template idea provided by Alexa but today the design just didn't want to come together - I'm still not happy with it. I think I need to get back in the scrapping habit. I'm sorry if the image looks a little wonky I took so long dithering the light wasn't good enough to take a photo by the time I'd finished so I had to scan it. I altered the proportions of the photos at the bottom of the layout and leaving the bit of white space next to the top photo resisted the temptation to add something - a slight nod to 'simple' ;-)

...........and last time I was here I promised you some cake so help yourself to a slice of banana cake and go check out Alexa's fantastic digital layout this week :-)

4 on Friday (2)

Do you remember last Friday? I posted a layout inspired by Alexa's 4 on Friday idea and tried to scrap 'simple'. This week seems to have passed in a blur and before I knew it, it was Friday again and I hadn't done any scrapping. So, I had a brainwave this morning - why didn't I create a mosaic featuring some of my favourite things of the week. Well, it seemed a simple idea and I thought I'll have it done in no time..........it took a little longer than I imagined but here it is. As it's in 4 on Friday format and I might just make a proper layout using it. Choosing favourite things isn't compulsory it just so happens that my two weeks to date seem to feature 'favourites'. The first photo is of a glass collection that a friend made for me. It took 3 months for him to collect all the tiny pieces of sea tumbled glass from the beach and carefully stacked them in the glass vase. I love it and only wish my photo could do it justice.

Photo number 2 features my new pen and ink. I bought them to experiment with writing on my art journal pages. I'm going to practice with my round number 3 nib and try not to get in a mess, they're not the best thing for a left hander. If you want to be inspired visit Martha Lever as her calligraphy art journal pages are amazing.

I've spent some happy moments this week perusing the book shelves of second hand shops and these are a few of my bargains of the week. If I can bear to tear it up Laurie's Gardening Encyclopedia will be appearing in future projects and I'd love to make a handmade book after seeing some of the beautiful examples in this book. The other book is all about The Pre-Raphaelites.

The final photo is of the grapes growing in my garden. There are loads I just hope they ripen as we want to try and make wine again. We haven't quite perfected the technique so any tips gratefully received.

So there you have it - my 4 on Friday.

....... and I couldn't go without sharing another favourite of the week a selection of tags from a swap over on UKS that I mentioned in a previous post.
Have a good weekend :-)

4 on Friday

Last week Alexa very kindly posted a PDF and gave details all about her 4 on Friday idea..........the idea? Well, to use the same basic template to create a layout and thereby reduce the 'thinking' time and letting you get on with the creating bit.

If you know Alexa you'll know her normal scrapping style, it's very simple but very stylish. So in honour of 4 on Friday's inaugural week I thought I'd try 'simple'. What do you think? It's the first time I've printed my title directly onto the background cardstock, very radical for me. I'm always in awe of Alexa's skills and how she manages to combine digital and traditional elements so successfully. I'm hoping to pick up some tips :) After making my photo into a pop art poster I mounted it onto some cardstock and then I ............well that was it really other than the addition of the multi coloured gems under my title.

I like how my layout turned out and I think it was made easier by the fact that I used the 4 photos and also meant I didn't have any journalling to include. The conclusion, whilst I enjoyed creating this layout I don't think I'm made to scrap 'simple'. I don't think I'm precise enough or maybe it's because I want to be too precise - this layout had me measuring to the millimetre! Or maybe my usual style enables me to cover my mistakes easier.....mmmmmm. Something I do know is that I'm going to enjoy using 4 on Friday to try new ideas and you never know I may even give 'simple' another try.

Why don't you pay Alexa a visit at http://simplyalexa.typepad.com/trimmingthesails/2010/07/four-on-friday-1.html and create your own 4 on Friday layout I know she'd love to see it.