Elevated Envelope

This month I'm taking part in the Elevated Envelope!  It's a group of people who sign up to send each other 'artistic snailmail' and tonight I started work on mine (nothing like leaving it until the last-ish minute).

The theme for this round is 'Malicious Surprise'; interpret as you will.  I've decided to loosely base my 5 envelopes on a Halloween theme.  Cutting my latest issue of Vogue into pieces, I created a base collage  for each envelope in Halloween-y colours - red, black, orange, purple and....green.

I've yet to decide on the details, but I'm going to have a go at creating spooky images in solid contrasting colours (probably white/black).  Then the small matter of fitting the addresses and postage in somewhere!

Work in progress below:

My pen pals are in Visakhapatnam (India), Oklahoma, Bedford, Port Washington and Wyoming, so it's cool to think of my little artworks making their way across the globe.  I'm also really looking forward to receiving mail back!

Scrapbooking

I've recently followed in my mum and auntie's footsteps and have taken up scrapbooking as one of my many craft hobbies.

At the moment I'm just working on pages using monthly kits from Basic Grey, who's style and general aesthetic I really like.  As with cross stitch, a lot of the items available venture into naff and 'grannie' territory, so it's nice to come across companies such as Basic Grey who seem to cater for the people that don't want clowns, puppies and Bible verses to feature in their work...

Below are some photos from my work so far!

I'll have to take some more photos of my others pages and get them posted here soon.  I'm looking forward to having a lovely album full of my memories for 2012 :)

LetterMpress

I'd seen this on the App Store a while ago but had been unsure it was worth the £6.99 price and also if I'd use it.  After a recommendation from Stephi, I decided to give Lettermpress a go.

I've only just started playing with it, and I love it!  When working digitally it's easy to just click, click, click, but with Lettermpress I find myself taking more time to think through what I'm doing.

There are loads of papers to choose from, and although there aren't a huge amount of fonts, there's definitely enough for a noob like me to keep me busy.  Most of the fonts are in keeping with the letterpress era and I'm a huge fan of the retro feel.

It just makes me want to try it for real though!  Does anyone know of any letterpress workshops in or around Glasgow?

Kitchen Makeover

Al and I were fed up with our existing kitchen units, so we decided to attempt to re-spray everything to get a whole new look while keeping costs down.

The units had a wipe-clean, plastic-y surface, so a primer coat or two was needed to ensure that the top coat stuck.  We're planning on painting the living room/kitchen white, so we chose grey as a nice contrast.

It was pretty easy to use the spray paints, getting an even coverage with two or three coats.

I don't know how well they will wear, but I think our kitchen looks a lot better!  What about you?

Fathers Day

Now that Fathers day has passed and my father has seen his card, I can show you! I followed a Basic Grey tutorial that was a bonus to the monthly scrapbook kit that I get from them each month. I think my dad liked it and I certainly enjoyed making it :)

 

My mum and my auntie do scrapbooking and I've recently jumped on the band wagon with them.  I find it really relaxing to do, and it's nice to sit down at something that's not digital, something you can touch.

Looking through photos to put onto my pages makes me appreciate the great things I've got to do in my life so far and the people I love #itscheesybutitstrue.

More Macbeth

Yes, I'm obsessed...  This play has stayed in my head since I saw it.  What a brilliant reworking...



 

Macbeth @ Tramway Theatre, Glasgow

Last night Al and I went to see the one-man performance of Macbeth, starring Alan Cumming, at Tramway, Glasgow.

Portrait of Alan Cumming by Albert Watson.

We started our night off with the pre-theatre menu that was themed to suit the performance, so it was all things Scottish!  I would highly recommend going to Tramway for food; it was really nicely presented and tasted great.  I had my first experience of the Scottish dessert, Cranachan, yum!

Seats in the theatre were unassigned, so we were lucky to be given a helping hand to get some really good ones, right in the centre and just a few rows back.  I wasn't sure what to expect as I sat down, wondering how one man was supposed to play all the Macbeth characters...

The program

Instagram - June

1. A frozen Mojito in Cozumel, Mexico.
2. My sister Jordan with one of the towel animals on the cruise ship!
3. My 'workspace' at home.
4. My snazzy new Nike capris for the gym.
5. Some of the lemon meringue cupcakes I made for everyone in work.
6. Sweet Williams, one of my favourite flowers.