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Hello and Welcome.

Hi, My name is Lesley, known as Craftymamma to my blog buddies. I am thrilled to have the opportunity of working with such a talented team, not to mention the fabulous products available from Snazzy Stamping and Scrapbooking. Like the rest of you I can't wait to feast my eyes on all the goodies when the online shop goes live.

First of all a little bit about me.

I have been officially 'retired' for 2 years but am actually busier than ever and have no idea how I found time to go to work, lol! I am Mum to 2, Mamma to 2 (will be 3 in December) and wife to a lovely Hubby who is very tolerant of my crafting obsession, mainly because it gives him licence to monopolise the TV I think! My crafting friends may say differently but I don't think I have a specific style (you will see my decorated initial and favourite art piece are totally different) and I consider myself to be a bit of a 'Jack-of-all-trades'. I have always crafted from childhood, in one form or another and discovered card making 5 years ago quickly followed by rubber stamping and lately mixed media and altered art. I love making cards and gifts for friends and family which can be pretty, elegant, grungy or even cute if necessary but I also like to dabble in dimensional pieces including decorated boxes, canvases, wall hangings and the odd tag here and there. A bit of everything really but I am quite particular about which work I think passes quality control and will bin anything I'm not happy with.

Now onto my favourite artpiece. I made this wall hanging in a workshop I attended last year and still like it as much now as I did then. I like the movement of the piece, especially the articulated birdcage at the bottom but I particularly like all the texture I achieved in various ways. First there are the different materials used, Grungepaper, wood and bookpages. Then there are the various mediums for actually creating texture, i.e. crackle paint, Viva Ferro, embossing powder and Stickles. The use of different stamps also creates the appearance of texture and of course the three dimensional embellishments add more depth.

Now onto my decorated initial which The Bosses, Don and Val, asked us to do as part of our introduction. I used acrylic paints to cover my initial with a crackle medium between the two layers on the top portion. I randomly stamped a crackle background over the bottom portion and then tore an old book page and stamped a subtle background using Distress Ink before applying it to my initial with a multi-medium. I stamped the quote onto tissue which I then tore round and applied to the initial again with multi-medium. I then had fun cutting various embellishments with a range of dies from my quite extensive collection (I think I have a slight problem/addiction, lol). I got quite carried away making the flowers from some lovely papers I've had in my stash for an age and now have some left over for something else. The same paper was used to cut the 'DREAM' from and after adhering this to the initial I arranged the other die cut embellishments. Finally, I used Inca Gold in silver and gold to colour the birdcage and attached this with fine chain together with the little bird charm hanging from the bottom to create some movement. I do hope you enjoy our intro pieces on this brand new blog and look out for some more inspiration from the rest of the Design Team over the weekend. I'll be back in a couple of weeks with my first proper DT make.
 Labels: Snazzy DT, The Artistic Stamper, Tim Holtz 
Great first post Lesley!

29 July 2011 at 08:05 
Love the first post, the letter looks fab and the hanging is just soooo my kind of inky, painty,stampy thing!

29 July 2011 at 08:15 
So what's wrong with having an obsession with dies, stamps, paper et all...?? It keeps us out of mischief!! (That's my excuse anyway). That decorated letter is beautiful and so much detail all round - love it. Looking forward to seeing more on this new blog.

29 July 2011 at 08:19 
Great to see your first post in it's full glory Lesley, love how you have decorated your initial. x

29 July 2011 at 08:33 
Oh Leslie, stunning! Love your wall hanging and your letter is GORGEOUS!!! Great first post!

29 July 2011 at 09:24 
Lovely first piece Lesley. I'm very familiar with your work, but this is beautiful. I'm very proud of you in your new position. Looking forward to seeing your furure makes.

29 July 2011 at 21:05 
Hi Lesley, fabulous projects so individual and inspirational. Good luck with your new venture.


1 August 2011 at 13:35 
Hi Lesly, Beautiful creations, so much to see and pretty colour combinations, I'm going to enjoy visiting I can see, congrats Gay xxx

2 August 2011 at 15:17 
Love your work Lesley.. have fun as part of this DT.. can't wait to see all your wonderful art work.

5 August 2011 at 12:14