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?