Laura Rumble - Crafter

Sequin confetti, of course!  Hi, I'm here today with a bunch of ATC's.  I am taking part in a swap you see... 52 cards themed 'Love, Kindness and Hope' and in return, I get 52 cards from all over the world made by different artists. I start with a master board - a big piece of watercolour paper that will eventually be cut down to size.  I made three sheets with different colours using mainly Shimmerz sprays in different finishes.  I added some stencilling with Dazzlerz paste for some texture. Next, I moved on to the fun bit - filling up 52 little glassine bags with sequin confetti.  I won't list all of the sequin mixes I used as there are far too many!  You can find them all here ! I printed out the phrase "throw kindness around like confetti" and trimmed them down to small slips of paper.  I have all my elements ready now so I set up my sewing machine.  I picked a background, a glassine bag of confetti and a sentiment sl...

Every now and again I like to take part in swaps, especially hand made swaps.  I recently signed up to Mad About Bags Strawberry Swap .  Here are a few of the bits I sent to Lynn...  A beaded strawberry necklace made with organza ribbon. Watercolour strawberry bunting made with Morlaix lace. If you have a cutting machine and would like the cut file I used you can download it free here . Unsure of how to package it to stop it getting tangled I made a quick card to wrap it around.  I also had a go at painting tissue paper - it gets very soggy and delicate but if you allow it too dry without moving it it works well. On to the bought bits - Edible; strawberry bon bons and strawberry & champagne jam.  Practical; a stem gem and a cookery book.  I made a few bookmarks with a Suse Fish strawberry stamp and marked all the recipes the had strawberries as ingredients!  There was a lip balm too, strawberry flavoured of course, ...

I took part in two Stocking Swaps this Christmas.  Here I'll talk you through what I received... The first swap I signed up for was a handmade swap with Cheryll .  My swap partner was Pam , a master needlewoman - excitement and pressure... I knew I'd be receiving some great goodies but I had to send her a stocking that I had sewn!  Sewing is something I enjoy, something I wish I had more time and energy to spend on, and something I am not very good at.  I think when you enjoy doing something it doesn't matter that you aren't amazing at it, it's just fun as it is. Here are my goodies... All beautifully sewn and so perfect!  Definitely things I will be pulling out every year. The little pencil case may well end up holding supplies from the next stocking! The second swap was organised by Gemma with some of my fellow 'like for ever' subscribers.  By this point I had already had one sleep and opened a few presents and was suffering.  ...

Recently I found Ursula Markgraf who runs a swap for handmade postcards.  I signed up and set to work...  I was very unhappy with the darker purple poppy (the stem is in the wrong place and the flower feels unbalanced) so I tried again on the paler poppy.  I'm still unsure about it and will keep trying until I master it (I have someone in mind you see, and she rather likes purple and poppies!) but here are the three I sent off in a bit more detail... This is the first time I used watercolour markers.  I had intended the whole work to be watercolour markers but I ended up adding regular watercolour paint, acrylic paint, India ink and coloured pencil.  I learnt I need to practice with the watercolour markers!! This one is mainly watercolour markers.  Instead of using them direct to the paper though I scribbled them on to my glass cutting mat and picked up the colour with a water brush.  I had to work really hard to get the paint to bloom...

I've been working on a couple of swaps recently.  I'll tell you about Jessica Brogan 's Card Deck Swap first, as there is still time for you to sign up and join in!  You can find the details here but my summary is; You alter a deck of playing cards.  You put some inspiring words on each card.  You post them to USA.  Shuffling happens.  You get sent a 52 different cards made by different people from all over the world. Here are a few of mine.  I went with the sequin/shaker trend. As you can see most of mine are slightly different but in the past I have made 52 of the same design. I have parcelled mine deck up ready to be posted and at the end of October my swaps should arrive with me... not sure I can wait that long!!  You have until the end of September to join in and post your cards off - will you join me? Thanks for stopping by!

It's a big day here, and that has led to a desk of two halves... The birthday half... And the craft half... It's my 30th, celebratory giveaway here , and also the WOYWW anniversary ATC swap.  I have a carrot and coconut cake calling my name, and a pile of presents making me smile.  It's a good day desky people, it's a good day!!  :)

I took part in a Valentines Day swap this year.  I enjoyed the Christmas swaps so much that I made a promise to seek out at least two other swaps throughout the year.  I stumbled across Tracey and her blog Mad About Bags. I was paired with the lovely Sarah and this is what she sent me: I marvel when I open things that are so me - rainbows, butterflies, birds, orchids, buttons and ribbon.  I love everything.  There was chocolate too.  It didn't make it in to this photo.  It's not that I have eaten it all, I promise, but it is in my snack pile and I forgot about it when I was taking photos! But here, to prove it, is the photo I posted on Instagram with the hashtag 'internet friends are the best!' And isn't this just the neatest blanket stitch in the world?! This is some of what I sent to Sarah... A little note. Lollipops for her two sons superheroes. A mini canvas.  There was more but I seem to have been so excit...

I think I've mentioned a few times that I have been working on a deck of cards.  Well, they are now finished and have hopefully been safely delivered to America. You can see I have made batches of backgrounds.  If you stick a group of cards to a 12x12 sheet of paper you can paint 12-15 cards as one. This time I tried a grungy look by scraping some of paint off and revealing the cards. You can find out about the swap at jessicaleighbrogan.com/cardswap/ or join the facebook group - you are probably too late for this swap but join us for the next one?  :) Another goal from this swap was to use more of my handwriting and rely less on printed text. I'm really pleased with the two pastel cards at the bottom of this last photo.  I used my handwriting book - The Scrapbookers Handwriting Workshop by Crystal Jeffrey Rieger - and really enjoyed it.  The concentration it takes to write properly instead of my usual scrawl is immense and really knacke...

My desk this week looks like this... A reel of my ribbon , a pile of triangles... There is evidence someone has been playing with my dymo... ...and I might know their name! And a bucket of half made mixed media cards with positive messages for a deck swap... Actually, I'll give you all the address to check out the swap as some of the WOYWWers may like to join us...  carddeckswap.com Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you at your desk :)

I've been trying some Found Poetry.  Explained as simply as possible - random words cut from any printed source put together in a different order. I thought this would be really hard and something that I wouldn't enjoy at all... However, it is amazingly freeing, amusing and just so much fun! I'm doing it for a swap... details here .  It is the brainchild of the rather wonderful Jessica Brogan , and in return for your 12 cards, you will receive 12 cards from all over the world in many different styles and designs and colours and some new friends.  Join us, won't you?

I am very fortunate to have found the wonderful Jessica Brogan's card deck swap.  I joined in the latest mini swap with the theme of 'Permission to...'  You can read all about it here . Altering the cards was the easy part for me.  So easy that I got carried away in the creating and forgot to take any photos.  There was paint and there was washi and there was fun :) Then came the journalling and I was struggling (yeah, I know, no surprise there!)  I wanted my 'permissions' to be meaningful to me and not just empty words, and it took a lot of thinking.  Of course here I had lots of time to spare and part way through took a photo... I seem to have deleted my photos of the finished cards... either that or I have "put them somewhere safe"!  Boo!  However they have been sent off to USA, shuffled and sent off around the world.  I can share with you the cards that I received in return... An eclectic mix from all over the world....