12 pages in 2015 - February

In January I mentioned that I had joined the 12 Pages in 2015 project. You can find this post here.

February arrived and ...sadly passed by without making my page. Unfortunately I fell ill and was too worn out to focus on crafting. March brought inspiration, though and I caught up. The topic was BROKEN & BOATS and the challenge was watercolours. I was delighted because I love watercolours!

This time, however, I wanted to try the watercolour pencil that I had had for ages. The day before getting down to work I watched a few videos on youtube to see how to use them. I was so inspired and thought that it would be easy peasy, but when I started it just turned out more complicated than I had thought. The outcome of my unsuccessful work is this:

I was very disappointed with the general outcome. The pencil is quite visible, there's water stains and the colours don't blurr as they should. I definitely didn't want this picture to be the page number 2 in my album and opted for my 'traditional' watercolours. The ones I've been using for ages now and...taa daa...

BOATS & WATERCOLOURS 

Envelope art

I had never done envelope art before, but one of the swaps on Swap-Bot required envelope decoration I thought it was just the right time to use my colour pencils and have a go at flowers. Here's the outcome:

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The swap itself was very interesting as we had to make a set notes on which we were to write the happy moments that we experienced during the week. I opted for colourful scraps which I decorated with pictures which would somehow represent my happy moments in picture.It was like the Jar of Happiness project, but limited to a week and sent to a partner via snail mail.

Nini's ATC swap

I joined an ATC group set up by Nina from Made by Nini. The idea is to make an ATC (artist trading cards) and send it to the assigned partner. The topics are provided by Nina and change every month.

FEBRUARY -  nightmares  -

It took me a while to decide what to make. Until one day something just clicked and I started creating...

The ATC is wee, only 89 x 64 mm. I used charcoal for this one as I thought the blacj colour would best express the idea of nightmares and would suit this fantastic character well.

Craft swap

So ... I participated in yet another swap :) This time it was a CRAFT SWAP -> https://www.pinterest.com/merialc/craft-swap/. The idea was to send at least two handmade items and a selection of other goodies. It was quite challenging as there was no price limit and we only had the info about what our partner didn't like and not the likes, which would have made it so much easier. Still... I had so much fun putting my package together :) and was really curious what would come in the post. I sent my parcel to Ellen and received loads of goodies from Michelle :)

Here's what came in the post: 

Butterflies... I love butterflies :) It was such joy to open the box and see this magnificent picture. But I couldn't wait long so I opened all the little gifts and this is what was there:

Magnificent pouches :) So well-made and so beautiful in such vivid colours! Amazing! 

Green yarn! Yes, green...my favourite colour :) I've already decided what I'm going to make... an autumn/ winter hat.

Chocolate goodies- just the right present for a person with a sweet tooth

Tea- ideal for a tea addict ;)

Strawberry 'goodies' for the body and strawberry and kiwi scented candle...mmmm

Ribbon... will definitely use it in my projects.

Beads... thinking of making a necklace or bracelets

Oh! and a London souvenir! Perfect for the study where I teach

Thank you for all these marvellous goodies, Michelle! I have been so spoilt!


This is what I sent to Ellen:

 

I knitted a hat, crocheted hearts and made them into a chain and also made a decoupage box. I bought a Barcelona calendar, buttons with Audrey Hepburn, a nice box of plasters, a box with a towel that was folded in such a way that it looked like a cake ;) and I added some Spanish goodies.