Make and Take!

Hello and welcome to Magpieheaven on a wonderful spring day! Just to prove that it really is a blissful day here - a picture of my make in the Magpie Garden!

With Easter on the horizon and lots of visitors expected, along with my English students beginning to panic about the upcoming Summer exams, I've had so little time to create. However, I was determined to do some crafting and I created this simple plaque for my daughter. I enjoyed doing this so much I would like to create some more with different embellishments and colour combos.

It started life as a 'make and take' from Ally Pally. The lady on the MDF man's stand had us covering little MDF hearts with this gorgeous paper. Unfortunately I didn't remember the name of the designer and I would so like to buy some more of her paper. If there is anyone who knows her or can remember the designer's name, please could you leave me a comment so I can order some? Also the lady who was demo-ing was a brilliant teacher! I think she was waiting on the station with me as we took the train up to London and I had no idea we were both bound for the same place, or that I would learn something from her later on that day! She told us to cover our hearts with PVA glue right to the edges, using our finger. We then lay the hearts face down on the paper, gave them a little wiggle to dispel air bubbles and cut roughly around the edges. She then showed us how to simply sand down the edges so that we had a really professional look. My family could not believe this was paper stuck onto the surface! We then threaded through a nice piece of shabby chic string.

When I got my heart out again to play with it, I painted the edge and the back with Bora Bora Fresco Finish followed by just a touch of dry brush Chocolate Pudding. I also stamped over the paper with the script stamp from Paper Artsy Lynne Perrella Collection 028 in Wendy Vecchi Potting Soil Archival Ink. Here is the reverse side of the MDF heart with a couple of coats of Fresco.

I also sponged a little Hey Pesto around the edges. The heart needed some more embellishment so I decided to try out my brand new rusting powder. I have been so longing to have some of this! Words cannot describe the excitement I felt as I approached that little tub of wonder!

My very dear, crafting friend, Lucy had given me a lovely collection of flowers, so I took one of these, covered it with some PaperArtsy Matte Medium, sprinkled it with the magic grey powder and spritzed with vinegar. In this shot, you might be able to see the grey powder and how the flower is gradually changing colour as the vinegar activates a chemical process!

While the rusting powder was working its magic, I selected a  crochet flower from one of these little beauties sent all the way from Canada by my dear Magpie Cousing, Dianne. I chose a coffee coloured one and matched it up with a single gold skeleton leaf.

Three Prima wooden butterflies provided the finishing touch. I painted them with some Bora Bora and a touch of Hey Pesto, edging the wings with Old Gold. Finally I stamped them with the Lynne Perrella script again, in Wendy Vecchi 'Watering Can' this time.

 There it is -  a heart for my daughter. It was the simplest 'make' I've done in a long time, but I was happy creating it and I fashioned it with love. As I worked I thought of one of my favourite poems, 'The Good Morrow' by John Donne. It's a poem about true love, the kind built on mutual understanding and maturity that I hope that my daughter will know some day:

My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,

And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;

Where can we find two better hemispheres,

Without sharp north, without declining west?

As the Spring begins to work its magic and Easter approaches, may your creativity increase; may you create with love in your heart and may you discover all kinds of  new and lovely delights!