Leafdays

And the winners are…

Carla — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:44:23 +0000

…

Number 12, Tanya, gets the fruity paper.

Number 90, Sue Young, gets the newsprint paper.

Congratulations to Tanya and Sue - I’ll email you shortly with details.

To everyone else, thank you so much for stopping by and leaving so many kind comments. I really appreciate having had the opportunity to meet you all.

One world one heart

Carla — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:25:31 +0000

This is just what I needed. An event to make me find time for myself. I am juggling so many things at the moment–the children, afterschooling, looking for a new house, trying to keep on top of work, plus the usual home chores–that I have dropped anything not desperately necessary (such as making art, blogging, or even sleeping) to the bottom of my priority list.

But you know what, blogging, crafting and making art are necessary. They allow me to keep my sanity. And so, with my birthday looming, I have decided to give myself an early present and find some time to do the things I like.

The catalyst for all this was a message posted by Peggy on of the art groups I belong to, saying that she is taking part in One World One Heart, a worldwide giveaway and blog hopping event launched by Lisa of A Whimsical Bohemian. Now, I missed One World One Heart last year, and was really sorry about it. So I thought what the heck! I am going to find time for it this year, no matter what.

Here are my two giveaways, both downloadable, printable background papers designed by yours truly. As per the usual One World One Heart rules, all you have to do to be in with a chance to win is to leave me a comment (and hey, if you have great tricks to keep stress at bay and make good use of your time, I would like to hear about it, but it is not compulsory!).

Giveaway number 1 is a very fruity, digitally designed paper

Giveaway number 2 is hand collaged and painted, then scanned

I hope you have fun with One World, One Heart. I know I will.

Merry Christmas

Carla — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 13:27:15 +0000

To those of you who kindly wondered where I was in the last few months: I was relocating, moving homes, getting the children settled in their new schools, working…and missing both blogging and art making.
Plenty still remains to be sorted out, but I hope to be somewhat more present in January. Meanwhile, I’d like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Paper design frenzy

Carla — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:17:56 +0000

I have a chronic need to start from scratch. I try to fight it, but inevitably end up succumbing to the urge. Take the twelve weeks holiday art making journey, which I embarked upon earlier in the month. I started making a Halloween banner, but couldn’t possibly use anything ready made—oh no. Instead, I had to design all my papers from scratch, then rip them to pieces to make the banner and coasters. And obviously, to design the papers from scratch, I had to get some new, suitable ephemera.
The end result is that I went on a double spree—ephemera shopping, and paper designing. I now have probably more autumnal ephemera than I will ever use, and a large number of autumn papers of which I will probably use some bits and pieces between Halloween and Thanksgiving. Of course, the Halloween banner is still not finished (though the watercolour is drying as I write).
But at least the papers look pretty….

Free autumn background paper

Carla — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:54:58 +0000

It’s raining outside and, for the first time in weeks, it feels really autumnal. If truth be told, I fancy some pear and chocolate crumble, and damn the diet I always want to go on (but never really do).
Perhaps this is why I felt compelled to put some pears in this paper?

I just couldn’t prevent myself even though it initially wasn’t working from a composition viewpoint. I like it now though, especially the lovely russet and rust colours. Am going to use it in my Halloween decorations which I am working on now. The plan is to make a banner, a couple of wall hangings and some coasters, to complement what I already have, and whatever treasures Heidi will be sending me in her package.
Anyway, I figured you may like playing with a bit of autumn paper, so, if you do, here is a copy for you to download and print in letter size or A4 (warning, the files are big and may take a while to download).

The twelve weeks of holiday art

Carla — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:36:43 +0000

What a blur September was! Settling Nicco in at school and Caterina at the childminder’s, coping with mountains of laundry and a broken dishwasher…all while suddenly freelance assignments flooded in left, right and centre.
I had so much work to do I barely had time to keep up with my swaps and little else.
But now I have miraculously managed to cross every item on my to do list—except for ongoing stuff, and the dishwasher, which is still broken—and am raring to make some art (and yes, I’ll also get down to answering my emails, finally).
That said, taking part in A Year of Color’s Sweet and Sinister swap—just about the only non work and non family related thing I managed to do last month—put me in the mood for holiday art, crafting and decorating. So I am challenging myself to create something new for the holidays every week from now until Christmas. It will mostly be handmade Christmas presents, of course, but also Halloween decorations (I am ahead of the game there, thanks to all the ideas and stuff I gathered for the swap) and Thanksgiving cards.
It’s going to be twelve weeks filled of anticipation, fun and colours—just thinking about all those blacks, whites, oranges, russets, rusts, reds, greens makes me salivate. Does anyone else fancy playing?
Meanwhile, here is a sneak peek at what Heidi is going to get when my parcel reaches her…I hope you like it, Heidi!

Flowers and little more

Carla — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:36:12 +0000

Well, the laundry is not quite under control yet, but I am making inroads. Between that, Nicco starting at his new school (so far so good) and Caterina starting to be looked after by a childminder (not so good, as she cries desperately when I leave her) I haven’t made so much as a scrap of card in weeks.
I’d betetr get a grip because I have joined Artsymama’s Sweet and Sinister’s swap and my partner deserves the very best I can put together. Hopefully this week will prove less hectic on the home and work front and more productive on the art front.
Until then, I am finding solace and inspiration in my summer pictures…particularly those of the flowers in Monet’s garden.

I am back!

Carla — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 07:38:00 +0000

Wow, what a trip. Gentle hills covered in tidy vineyards rose and fell in the embrace of a soft, cool mist in Burgundy. Each vine groaned under the weight of fat and green grapes, on the verge of turning purple and ripe.
Every now and again a turreted chateau soared over the landscape, a vigilant sentinel over acres of vinous treasure.

Then the hills flattened into a plain, the chateaux gave way to sleepy villages and the weather became steadily hotter—until the Tour Eiffel stood like an elegant piece of iron lacework glinting under the scorching sun.

We followed the slow, olive waters of the Seine to the quiet backwaters of the Ile St Louis, wandered among the grand palazzos and narrowing streets of the Marais and stood small and insignificant against the grandeur of the Senate and the Louvre.

But the countryside beckoned again and with it Monet’s garden, ablaze with the pink, white and purple of blooming summer flowers. We got lost in the secret peace of the waterlily pond, sheltered by huge weeping willows and guarded by the graceful green arch of the Japanese bridge, and it felt like stepping into a painting.

Later, the murmur of the Seine took us north to the fat fields of Normandy, the cows munching on rich emerald pasture. Apple trees laden with gleaming fruit graced the glorious gardens of ancient, thatched cottages. And the intricate spires of Rouen’s cathedral changed from taupe to golden in the dying early evening light.

It was magic. But alas, all good things come to an end, and soon, too soon, an icy breeze pushed us across the Channel and the dazzling white cliffs of Dover welcomed us back to England.
So I am back now, sad and happy at the same time. And collapsing under a pile of dirty laundry, but that’s another, far less magic story.

On holiday, on holiday!

Carla — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:09:10 +0000

You know what? This business of being on holiday is really hard work. I have been with the kids in the Alps for ten days, and it has been an intense affair of watching Nicco climb high on old pine trees up on the Piccolo San Bernardo, helping Caterina ‘jump’ on the trampoline for the first time in her life, and taking them both to swim in the heated pool up on a chilly plateau at the foot of Mont Blanc.

And I lived, breathed and photographed all this.

We had a great time, but I’d be dishonest if I didn’t admit I am desperately looking forward to my husband joining us and taking up his share of looking after the kids. We are off to France for twelve days and I hope to squeeze some flea-market-hopping, stamping and collageing while the children (and their father) sample the delights of Eurodisney.

See you all on August 20.

Blast from my artsy past

Carla — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:29:23 +0000

When I was little, I had a pencil virtually glued to my hand. I made ‘art’ every day, several times a day, Even though I was no great talent, there was nothing I enjoyed as much as drawing, except reading.
Growing up, I fell in love with the written word, and, while I kept busy with crafts, from soapmaking to salt dough dolls, art fell by the wayside—until middle age and children brought it back, first through scrapbooking, then through stamping, mixed media and collage.
But just before art disappeared from my life, when I was about 12, I made my first proper collage. It was a school project, born from the mind of an enlightened teacher. My parents kept it all these years, and it was fun to look at it again. It is very rough, of course, but it is the first seed of my collage passion. Here it is.