My 100th Follower!

Wow, I can't believe that the number of folks who follow my blog is now into three figures!  What a good start to the New Year!  That deserves a little giveaway I think!

Congratulations Dorthe - you are the lucky person - if you would like to email me - link in my sidebar - with your address, I will post a little thank you gift to you.  I will go away and find something suitable and will be right back with a photo of it.

Right - I'm back and here is my giveaway.  This is a pretty linen pouch from circa 1930's, used for storing handkerchiefs or napkins, but could now be used to keep all sorts in, such as buttons, trim, lace etc.  It is a salmon pink colour with violets embroidered on the flap.  This is from a French chateau, bought from a lady who was clearing out the contents from the previous owner who hadn't thrown anything away for over 80 years!  Inside are 7 small pieces of lace - of various types, which I hope you will be able to use.

Thanks so much for the continued support of all my Followers.  Happy New Year!

Bye Bye Santa!

Well, Christmas has been and gone amidst a flurry of snow, huge spending, food shopping, present wrapping and exhaustion.  I still have my family get together to look forward to, which is later than planned this year due to the very bad weather we have had and is scheduled for this coming weekend, to coincide with a very special birthday I have!

I am starting to get that "get rid of the Christmas decorations now" feeling but can't at the moment as Mr V-B likes them up as long as possible so I have started in a small way by having a tidy up of my blog.  The vintage Santa background had to go, along with several Christmassy photos!  I'm looking forward to Spring already and can't wait to get back into the usual routine.

I would like to wish all my friends, followers and fellow bloggers a very Happy New Year and a healthy and prosperous 2011.

To celebrate my special birthday, here are a few images for you :-

Enjoy! 

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Well, there's certainly not been much happening on the creative front this month - I think my mojo has gone on it's holidays.  Also I have had  a problem with my toe and had to have a minor op last week and things haven't been helped by the unprecedented snowfall we have had for the second time in about a month, which has virtually brought the UK to a grinding halt, which in the run up to christmas is most inconvenient to say the least!

However, I have got my Christmas decs up and here are a few very seasonal photos - the snowy views are from the house looking out.

If I don't post again before Christmas, may I take this opportunity of wishing all my friends, followers and fellow  bloggers a fabulous Christmas and New Year - have a lot of fun!

Christmas Advent Fair

Despite the freezing temperatures here in the UK at the moment, Mr V-B and I braved the cold and went along to the Burford Advent Fair yesterday afternoon.  Burford is a fabulous medieval market town on the outskirts of the Cotswolds and at Christmas time is a magical place with many pretty shop windows and treasures to buy.

There was live music, roasted chestnuts for sale and the lights turned on by Father Christmas himself (!), followed by a procession to the church for carols and a magician for the children.  It made us feel very Christmassy.  We are so lucky to live 5 minutes drive away from such a beautiful little town.

Just Published in Sew Somerset, Winter 2011

I haven't got my copy yet so not sure how my artwork has been shown but I do know that this issue is out because I have already had a comment about it.  It was so long ago that I sent it in to Stampington & Co but that's the nature of the beast I guess.

                                       http://www.stampington.com/html/sew_somerset_winter11.html

Here are some photos I took before I posted it off:-

I can't wait to get my copy to see how it looks and also can't wait to get it back home again so that it can go on display somewhere.

Christmas Countdown Begins!!

Starting 1st December through to Christmas Day, Lisa Vollrath starts her fabulous countdown with daily free images. To join in you must spread the word too - post the following link on your blog, message board, art group, Facebook or Twitter:-

Lisa Volrath (Ten Two Studios & Go Make Something}'s Holiday Countdown

and Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas

Check them out and get into the holiday spirit!

Shabby Recycled Quilted Hearts

Here are two hearts I have recycled from an old quilted piece - they have scraps of vintage lace and some vintage buttons and are unfinished at the back so that they can be sewn as a finishing touch onto your projects.  Each heart is packaged with a double sided piece of beautiful 7 Gypsies Conservatory paper (6" x 6" size) .  The other side of both pieces shown below.

These two hearts are now available in my shop - please pop over and have a look if you like them.

                              

Announcing the Shop Celebration Giveaway Draw .........

Congratulations Shane!  I have e-mailed you about this.  Thanks ladies for taking part and I'm sorry there can be only one winner.

Photoshop Test Kitchen

I have recently signed up for Kim Klassen's Photoshop Test Kitchen - button in my sidebar.  If you love playing in Photoshop with textures and lots of how to's, tips and techniques, then this is the place for you. This is my first offering from the Test Kitchen - this has taken me ages and has got so many textures and elements in it, some courtesy of Kim and one of Christina Renee's glass negative frames.

Here is the original photo:-

  I have been trying to do one of the mosaic templates but am not happy yet with the final outcome but here is my first go at a new blog header - what do you think?

What's New in the Shop Today!

Here are some new items I have just listed in the Vintage Bunty shop at BuntyBarmcake.co.uk:-

This a really lovely old sheet music booklet called "River & Rainbow" by Walter Carroll, who is described as the Beatrix Potter of learner piano music.  The booklet isn't dated but I do know that the music was written in 1933 and this particular book is out of print, although I believe a completely new edition has recently been published.

There are 10 miniature pieces with such lovely names as Glow Worms, The Tiger Moth, Iris and By Crystal Stream.  There is a charming picture of children and fairies (from the original by Arther Rackham) - shown below.  The second picture is of the inside front cover with line drawing.  There are no tears in the book and considering its age, it is in fair condition.   Having done some research on this, it would seem that there are only a couple of copies available in rare book shops!

Also new today are these pretty collaged paper hearts (made by me), which are offered as a set of 5 .  These can be added to any papercraft project to add that finishing touch.  There is only one set of these at the moment but if more than one person would like a set, just let me know and I will do some more!

Please pop over to the shop and have a closer look.

Want to Win This?? A Celebration Giveaway from BuntyBarmcake.co.uk

To celebrate the launch of my new shop, I thought it would be nice to have a giveaway . This is an opportunity to win one of my project packs - you could win all the items shown in the photograph:- a vintage postcard; a vintage cuff with lace and ribbon from a very small garment; a length of French edging trim with little boys and girls on it; 2 types of quality ribbon from VV Rouleaux; various other lace bits, a yo-yo with pink bow and 6 vintage buttons.

Here's how you can win!

For 1 chance of winning, leave a comment on this post, then post about my shop (not my blog) on your blog / website and link back to me.

For 2 chances of winning, leave a comment on this post, then post about my shop (not my blog) on your blog / website, link back to me and become a Follower.  {If you are already a follower of this blog, mention it in the post and you will automatically receive a second chance of winning.}

I will draw one lucky winner  in two week's  time (Saturday 6th November at 6:00pm GMT) so please get posting!  Good Luck!

Please note that to take part in this giveaway, you must have either a blog or website plus a valid e-mail address so that I can contact you should you win. 

Introducing BuntyBarmcake.co.uk, My New Online Shop!

I’m very pleased and proud to introduce to you my new website which is now up and running, thanks to many hours of hard toil by Mr V-B to get it all working as it should (and lots of hair pulling out by me due to the steep learning curve involved!).  I am hoping that this will give me greater flexibility with the products I want to sell.  For the moment I will keep my Etsy shop going until the items I have listed expire.

I will still be selling collage sheets and pretty downloadable papers – the download shop is all stocked up and has some new designs too.  In addition, I will be offering one of a kind packs of ephemera, lace, fabric or whatever other pretty things take my fancy whilst I am out and about on my travels, plus occasional quality excess-vintage stash which I no longer have room for in my workroom.   For quite a while now I have had a yearning to make up delicious little project packs with bits of this and bits of that – the kind of thing I have had no luck finding myself.  I hope these will appeal to all you mixed media, altered art, seamstress and collage bloggers out there.  

 

Please pop along to the shop, make yourself a cuppa and sit down and browse through my goodies. The different sections are listed in the left hand side bar of the Shop page.   I really hope you will like what you see – I am hoping to offer some things which are a little bit different.  I would love to know what you think and would value your comments.   BuntyBarmcake.co.uk

Coming Soon ........ Please Keep Watching!/Knitting & Stitching Show

I know I mentioned a few weeks ago that when I got back from my holiday, I would have some exciting news, well, I still will have but things are taking a wee bit longer to finalise so please be patient.  I hope the wait will be worth it.  

I spent yesterday at the fabulous Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace in London - a yearly event which seems to grow bigger every year.  It's a show with exhibitors and textile artists from all over the world and it's so easy to overspend (oh, my groaning credit card!).  But as I see it, you can find things there that you wouldn't find anywhere else (unless you are very lucky) and where I live, shops selling such goodies just don't exist - well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

I also did a workshop there with the talented Gwen Headley called "Take 100 Lines" which basically is to create 100 lines whilst joining several strips of fabric together and working on the strip as a whole to incorporate lines of all kinds eg running stitch, cross stitch, couching, fly stitch, blanket stitch etc., etc.  Unfortunately I did not take my camera to the show and so couldn't take a photo of Gwen's finished works but here is a photo of my strip so far.  This is as far as I have got and although the colours are not what I would choose for myself, I am thinking of maybe doing something incorporating this kind of theme in a paler colour scheme sometime.  I met another blogger at the class - Linda (Blue Eyed Girl) - what a small world!  Her piece is shown on her blog - she has done a lot more than I have!

Back To Normal .....!

We are now back from our little break on the Worcestershire/Shropshire/Hereford borders and what a lovely area it is.  Fabulous countryside and gorgeous local food products - definitely for foodies!  Here are a few photos of our travels:-

From the top:- Lower Brockhampton Estate at Bromyard (absolutely lovely), Burford House Gardens, Bewdley, The Feathers in Ludlow, Ludlow castle, Arley, Kidderminster and a beautiful leopard at the West Midlands Wildlife Park.

Taking a Little Break .....

Just a short break from tomorrow for one week to re-charge the batteries.  This is one of the places we will be visiting:-

When I get back, I hope to share some exciting news with you.  Watch this space and start saving your pennies! Please tell your friends and if I can push my followers up to 100 ie 30 more, then I will be having a super giveaway to celebrate!  Please spread the word!

Etsy Treasury Selection!

Wow!  I am honoured to have been featured in an Etsy Treasury - my very first!  Here is the link:-  MDCardsand Gifts.  Maggie has featured a beautiful collection of chocolate brown art and mixed media items.

She featured my chocolate brown script collage paper:-

Thanks Maggie!

New Flea Market Goodies!

After a very unsuccessful trip to the bric a brac market in Oxford a week or so ago, I so made up for it yesterday - it was certainly my day to buy some lovely stuff. My favourite stallholder was there yesterday and had boxes brimming with stuff from a probate sale which had come from a house which she said was crammed with stuff from the 1920's/30's!

Here are just some of the things I got - I couldn't photograph everything:-

The Blog Guidebook - What A Great Idea!

Thanks to Laurie of Indulge Your Shelf, I found out about this great website.

 You can list your blog for free (first entry only) under one of many categories, and find like-minded bloggers, who can also find you!  You can have as many entries under different categories as you want but obviously you have to pay for them.

There are several categories which I think my blog could be listed under and I'm now listed under (Painting, Illustration &) Mixed Media.  I am also going to join the Arts & Crafts category to get my blog out there.  A great way to find new blogging friends!

The guidebook also has fantastic resources with a Giveaway Section, Blog Events & Linky Parties, etc., etc.  There is also a very useful Help Desk.  There is so much to read on there, I have only skimmed through it for now but will go back and have a proper look.    Until 31st August, there is a special offer on - blog about the Guidebook and send the link to them and you may get a FREE blog button listing with them!  Great stuff.

Just A Little Something I Ran Up!

This is a shabby fabric hanging with bits of old lace and pretty fabric, which came from an idea I had and then quickly was completed in a few hours.  It's amazing what you can achieve if, instead of logging onto the computer, you get on with your crafting!  I think I will make a few more and list them in my Etsy store.

If you would like one in a specific colour palette, please e-mail me or convo me on Etsy and I will see what I can do.

Pretty Little Buttons Through My Letterbox This Morning!

Look what arrived today from the USA - two cards of beautiful hand made ceramic buttons by Julie Whitmore.

I had emailed Julie about buying some of her buttons and she asked me what I would like and made some up for me to choose from. There were so many I liked but I couldn't buy them all!  These are my favourites and Julie kindly sent an extra little button with a card - the smallest cottage in a heart at the bottom (so kind of you Julie).  Thank you.  I photographed them on top my newest collage sheet before I digitally altered it as I thought it brought out the colours in the buttons.

New Background Paper in My Etsy Store

Here is a preview of a new paper I have just designed and put up for sale in my Etsy shop.  First of all I made a collage from strips of various papers/vintage text I liked and then added a few scraps here and there to add interest.  I then scanned it into my Photoshop software and added some brushes, a few layers and some blending modes - hope you will like it enough to pop over to the shop.

** From today for a limited period, I have reduced the price of my background papers and collage sheets so grab a few bargains while you can!** 

More Journal Pages

I am still way behind on my online journal course but here are some more finished pages:-

 

 

Photoshopping & A Freebie Texture

Just fancied doing a quick altered photo this morning, when I should have been houseworking!  As well as the photo, I used a texture from a photo taken at Hidcote Manor Garden last year, together with a script brush I had.  I used lots of different layers and blending modes and then finished with one of Christina Renee's beautiful glass plate negatives and this is the result.

Here is a freebie for anyone digitally minded - the texture that I mentioned above - please feel free to use it in your work and I would love to see what you do with it.  Enjoy!

Treasures of the Ocean - New Collage Sheet

As there is a trend for mermaids and all things ocean-related just now, here is a sheet of backgrounds I have just designed in shades of aquamarine, blue and green for all those mermaind inspired works of art.  Pop over to the shop and have a look.