In the world of the Golden Compass

As a bit of fun today, and being partial to fantasy movies, polar bears and Daniel Craig, I went to the Golden Compass web site (http://www.goldencompassmovie.com). On surfing around I came across a quiz to find my very own daemon - just like in the film. I don't usually have much time for these kinds of quiz but I did it anyway, just for fun. I liked the questions posed and found the results really interesting. On answering the questions Daemon Inachus was declared to be my daemon. Now, I'm not the biggest spider fan in the world (although I do use a jar to catch the ones that come into the house and put them back outside) but the description of my personality was spot on. It says I am modest, solitary, flexible, softly spoken and spontaneous. At least that's how I see myself. Maybe others would tell you different. I'm certainly spontaneous when buying books, as Amazon has just found out - I've been spending my Christmas money.

Wearables

I tried my hand at altering another photo. With all that wonderful frost I have plenty of photos of gravestones that I want to use. The one here was produced by using a 50%bleach/50% water mixture. I dipped the whole photo into it until I liked the colours them rinsed it in clean water with a splash of vinegar. I added some peel off stickers, coloured the gravestone with marker pen, sanded heavily and added some silver embossing powder. I still have difficulty letting rip with photos. I'm not sure what constitutes a 'good' altered photo.

I have also added some photos of a scarf and tie that I have been playing with. My Dad asks me to make him a Christmas tie each year. This one is covered in huskies and has been very popular with Dad's customers. I have had two requests for these ties. The scarf uses Color Washes but I am not convinced of their value for money or usefulness. The colours are too pale once washed and dried. I have used different kinds of fabric paints in the past, and while I like the effect of spraying on silk, I find Colour Washes too expensive and wasteful. I use plain copier paper to mop up the left over ink once I finish painting the scarf.

Winter wonderland

We have had the most amazing frost over the last few days. I haven't seen frost like this in years. I'm living in a winter wonderland. The last few days I have been going out with my camera to photograph the icy conditions. It's wonderful. Unfortunately my pipes have frozen today and I have no water.

'Tis the season to be jolly

I've been making Christmas cards and ATCs this week. I have a few swaps coming up so I'm getting in early. One of the swaps involves using painted backgrounds, wrapped pipe cleaners and fabric beads. Another is inspired by the art of Piet Mondrian. The most fun I had this week was helping my sister make a pair of Christmas earrings. We had a great laugh. Although she claims not to be artistic she is more creative than she gives herself credit for. The teddy earrings were inspired by the bear beads on Tina T's Polymer Clay blog. I have added a few other random ATCs to my photos too.