30 May 2008

Re-living 40s glamour...

Thought you might like a little preview of what I'm working on - since Betty asked about the furs, I've been playing with some ideas for elements to go with them and I've come up with a sort of 40s glamour theme (I just love 40s movies, particularly noir).


I love my faux fur background combined with this coat from Dover, so there'll be a few of these. And so far I've got some opal and marcasite brads, flowers, hearts and frames. Then since I was working in marcasite, I remembered one of my mom's favourite items is a Tara brooch in marcasite and Connemara marble - so I tried to create something that resembled the marble, and I'm pretty pleased with the result. Which means in addition to the 40s Fur kit, I'm also working on another Celtic kit, but this time with Connemara marble, and possibly a little bit of Blarney.

I'll try to get the 40s kit uploaded Saturday or Sunday. In the meantime, have a great weekend!

26 May 2008

Just a few trinkets...

The last colour challenge for the month is at RAKScraps hosted by Connie, where the theme is mums and family. Now those of you who've been with me for a while may remember the cards I made for Mother's Day...sigh!

Anyway, I really liked the papers because the stone represents my mum's strength and the damask is because she was a damask weaver before she got married - so I've recreated them in this month's colour palette (along with some matching beads and baubles) and hence we have:

Trinkets for Mum

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which contains:
  • 3 stone textured papers
  • 3 crumpled damask papers
  • 3 crumpled textured solids
  • 2 small bead necklaces (frames)
  • 2 dragonfly brooches
  • 3 coloured pearl bracelets (frames)
  • 3 coloured pearl earrings (brads)
I was working on the dragonfly brooches for another section of the Grow kit - but I couldn't figure out how to get the Grow theme to work for a Mum-related kit lol! Nevertheless, I think they go just as well with this, and I really like how the coloured pearls turned out - hope you like them too.

Belanna's Trinkets for Mum - Papers
Belanna's Trinkets for Mum - Elements

Ooops - and something that really tickled me today was a sign we passed on the way back from running various errands which said:

Save the earth - it's the only planet with chocolate!

What more motivation do we need????

25 May 2008

Step we gaily, on we go...

The song that's been going round inside my head these last few days, is Marie's Wedding, a traditional Scottish folk song that I fondly remember being performed by the Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem. The rather jaunty chorus goes...

Step we gaily on we go, heel for heel and toe for toe,
Arm in arm and on we go, all for Marie's wedding
Over hillways up and down, myrtle green and bracken brown,
Pass the sheeling through the town, all for Marie's wedding...etc etc

It's a lovely little ditty and probably on my mind because I've been seeing a lot of bumph about weddings lately... we are coming up to wedding season I suppose, so that makes sense. Which put me in mind to do something wedding-ish, and I remembered that a couple of people had mentioned having a Claddagh theme for their weddings, so I put two and two together and came up with this:
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Claddagh Wedding consists of:
  • 5 patterned papers
  • 3 textured papers
  • 2 decorated frames
  • 2 wedding cake stickers
  • 2 wedding cake chipboard pieces
  • 1 Celtic rose & knot doily
  • 1 Celtic rose & knot sticker
  • 2 intertwined Celtic symbols
  • 2 decorative horse shoes
  • 2 iced wedding favour cookies
  • 3 wedding invitation seals
  • 1 Celtic heart cake topper
  • A collection of Wedding words
  • 1 complete alpha - upper case, lower case and numbers
  • 9 framed Celtic symbols and one blank

I started with some papers that didn't make it into the original Claddagh Love kits because I was working to set colour palettes. I'm really pleased with the alpha, and hope you'll like it because it turned out better than I could have hoped. I also really love the two Celtic symbols (see the top right corner of the preview). Intertwined animals are often used a wedding or marriage and I thought these two (sea horses and birds) were perfect, and thanks to a combination of styles, the end result is simply gorgeous - a little like a soft gold enamel with a stone edge. If I was getting married (which I'm not and not likely to be lol!) this would be my wedding stationery, no doubt about it.

Some of the other pieces I'm not so sure about, so if you download it, I'd really love to know what you like or don't like from it - also whether the element and alpha sizes are too big, too small or about right? All feedback is welcome, and if you take the time to help me improve, it means I can offer you better stuff in future eh?

Belanna's Claddagh Wedding - Elements

Belanna's Claddagh Wedding - Papers

Belanna's Claddagh Wedding - Alpha

Ooops! Just realised I forgot to mention the fonts used in the TOU - for info they are Irish Blessings and Cry Uncial.

22 May 2008

On a wing and a font...

While I love fonts, I'm not normally a font challenge kinda girl, but even I couldn't resist the rather gorgeous one chosen for this month's font challenge at SAS - it's called Adine Kirnberg. And after oodles of fun playing with different effects, I finally settled on a nice cracked stone finish - and it's so nice I'd be seriously tempted to make an alpha with it. (Click on the picture for a closer look at the stone, it's really lovely.)

So for the first time in an awfully long while, I had an incentive to scrap, and for the first time I scrapped with something I created. Well, no that's not technically correct, because I've created papers etc to make cards before...but this is the first time I've scrapped with something I've released as a freebie...which seemed weird.

So, while I'm here I'd best take a moment to answer some questions etc...

Firstly a word of thanks for all the supportive comments - they're very much appreciated - and I'm so pleased that you're enjoying Grow & Grow Too, they were fun to make and helped cheer me up a little, and your comments have multiplied that effect - many thanks!!! I'm especially pleased that the little grasshoppers and flower pots have received such a warm response - I kinda liked them, but I just never know if others will feel the same!

Betty asked about my Funky Furs ... to be honest, that was so long ago I'd all but forgotten them! But yes, I'm probably going to release them, but I want to see if I can create some elements to go with them first...maybe some art deco jewellery might be nice...if you have any suggestions, let me know.

Chris Allport asked about Celtic Mysts ... and the truth is I feel both guilty and resentful about all things Celtic at the moment. Guilty because I said I'd release more, I created loads and all it really needs is a bit of finessing, packaging and uploading - which wouldn't really take much time at all. But I feel resentful because I was on such a high when I released the first part and while creating the rest...but then things in real life took a downward plunge and everything I was working on got tainted by the events and feelings which left me with a very irrational aversion to finishing it. So every time I think I must get it sorted, I find more pressing things to do (like surf the net, make tea, buy bread, call my mom, do a crossword...you get the idea).

It's a bit like getting run over while eating your favourite sandwich, and now you'll starve yourself rather than face cheese and pickle ever again (or whatever your favourite happens to be) because it triggers unpleasant memories. I know it's daft, and as a fairly logical person I find it particularly frustrating, but I will overcome it eventually, it just might take a couple of months. So for those I've disappointed, I can only say, I'm human and I'm sorry!!

I'd also like to say a great big thank you to the Pinkies for all their support recently, just so that you know it hasn't gone unnoticed or unappreciated, and I am actually trying to drag myself back to a reasonable stable frame of mind, and when I do, I'll be back. The good news is that I started taking a variety of herbal supplements recently, one of which is St Johns Wort, which I think is actually beginning to make a difference - I am feeling much more positive (as evidenced by Grow lol!) and while the circumstances haven't changed, I just feel a bit more able to cope than before, if you know what I mean. So I'm feeling a bit hopeful that while I haven't turned the corner as yet, it is at least in sight.

Hugz to all!

16 May 2008

Still Growing...

This weekend is certainly not going as originally planned - but at least the last minute change of plans has given me the chance to finish my kit for KimB's colour challenge at DSO. The palette was kinda similar to SAS, so I figured I'd simply continue the Grow theme - hence this one's called

Belanna's Grow Too
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Again I've been concentrating on the elements to see what I can create with the tools I have, and while some items are similar to those in Grow, none are actually the same. So contents are:

  • 2 stone textured papers
  • 6 patterned fabric papers
  • 2 deco edged mats
  • 2 curvy embroidered felt frames
  • 2 textured flowers
  • 2 little buttons
  • 2 star diamond brads
  • 2 embroidered fabric tags
  • 2 curvy lace ribbons
  • 2 embroidered felt vine panels
  • 2 fabric plant pot borders
  • 2 chipboard flower pots
  • 3 plant marker strips
  • 1 flower pot sticker

Links are here:

Belanna's Grow Too - Papers

Belanna's Grow Too - Elements

I like the flower pot borders, the vine panels and the flowers - but I'd love to know what y'all think.

14 May 2008

Time to Grow?

So I swung by Boo's colour challenge this week at SAS and thought the colours would be challenging, so I found some time to play and this is the result...simply called Grow...

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I concentrated more on the elements, so you might find the papers a little....er, boring, but such is life eh? And I must admit, I kinda like how the elements turned out, especially the grasshoppers (which is saying something since I have a morbid fear of bugs!). Plus I it gave me a chance to play with a few of Atomic Cupcake's actions that I hadn't tried previously - so lots of credit due to AC!

Anyhow, the set includes:

  • 4 patterned and 4 textured solid papers
  • 4 little bows in two styles (thanks to Royanna Fritschmann)
  • 3 flowers with gem centres (from a potpourri mix, thought it was cute)
  • 3 curvy enamelled frames
  • 2 matching ornamental panels in silver & coloured glass (not previewed)
  • 2 silver & gemstone grasshoppers
  • 3 aged and stained stickers
  • 3 tooled leather tags
  • 1 quirky caterpillar on cardboard

Which makes this probably the most varied set I've come up with - so hopefully you'll find something in it that appeals. If you've got any constructive criticism of Grow, I'd be happy to hear it, and of course I'd love to know if you actually use it.

Belanna's Grow - Papers

Belanna's Grow - Elements

ETA: Thanks to Connie for pointing out my ooops with the links - think they're both correct now - fingers crossed.

06 May 2008

To eat or not to eat...

I made the mistake of telling my other half that Vix had tagged me with this food meme, and he nagged me to do it - so I tagged him to do it too....both sets of answers follow:

What food do you consider the best "date" food? In other words what meal or food item do you think is sexiest to eat in the company of someone you would like to look sexy around?

Me: Fajitas - sexy food has to be tactile, a little messy and a little hot
Him: Champagne, strawberries and cream...sexy has to include bubbles!!!

What well-known person would you like to share a meal with—with or without clothing. (saying whether or not clothes are involved is optional).

Me: Apart from Him? Hmm, Connor Trinneer aka Trip from Enterprise...or Alan Tudyk aka Wash from Firefly/Serenity - with clothes...in fact, in uniform if possible...
Him: Lisa Edelstein aka Cuddy from House, or Jewel Staite aka Kaylee from Firefly...and whatever they want to wear (or not) is fine by me...
Me: Didn't you mean to say, 'Apart from Belanna?', dear?
Him: Erm, I thought that went without saying...

Left to right: Connor Trinneer, Alan Tudyk, Lisa Edelstein, Jewel Staite (Frame Strip by Misty Cato)

What does your perfect breakfast-in-bed look like? (Food AND the details, please. Candles? Music? Flowers? Hot tub? Dancing girls?

Me & Him in perfect agreement on this one: Breakfast in bed on our anniversary a few years back at Longueville Manor in Jersey - with bubbles, nibbles and naughtiness....

What do you consider the best application of whipped cream to be?

Me: Intravenously...no kidding, I adore whipped cream on anything, with anything, anytime, any place, any where...
Him: As an environmentally-friendly bikini

Oh-God-No, Biff, the yacht is sinking! You are sent to the galley to retrieve the food. What luxury food items do you snatch first? The champagne? The caviar? Smoked Salmon? Truffles? Chocolate? Or something else?

Me: Hmm, has to be the champagne...and if there's time, chocolate macaroon bars!
Him: Ditto, champagne is a basic necessity, together with some Cheese & Onion crisps!

Me: So that about wraps up our first joint posting, so it's goodnight from him
Him: And it's goodnight from her.

(Forgive the feeble Two Ronnies joke!)