Monday 23 August 2010

Do You *Heart* Giveaways?

Hey everyone. So... (drum roll please) ...this is my 100th post! As promised, I'm going to celebrate by running a little giveaway here. But first, let me show you something.

Now, I'm NOT really a huge fan of hearts. NOR am I so very keen on certain shades of pink. But there are exceptions to everything, and I am open to having my mind changed. Months ago I bought some little balsa wood hearts because they were that shape of heart that is a little elongated... basically, not your classic, symmetric, round heart shape. I had only a very vague idea of what I wanted to do with them - I wanted them to hang. But they sat there in my To Do Box - sad, bare, lonely little hearts, wondering why they'd been relegated to a dark cupboard.

Last week I started playing around with colour combos and found that I could quite comfortably tolerate light shades of pink, if they were tempered by off-white and sage(ish) green. Then I remembered my wooden hearts, and my own heart leapt. Perfect. Two days later I had a pretty wall hanging:

To make these, I painted the hearts with white acrylic paint, and then inked around the edges in a sandy colour (Memento Desert Sand). Then I stamped a line of flowers (with an Artemio stamp) in Memento Rhubarb Stalk across the middle of the top and bottom hearts, and stuck some gorgeous gingham ribbon underneath (the ribbon is from All My Memories). After that I cut some teeny scalloped circles with the Cricut (in dark grey), some teenier circles (in dotted green and gingham pink), and some even teenier hearts (again in dark grey). Along with some pink ric rac, I stuck them all together, rounding off with a tiny gem:

For the middle heart I cut some larger scalloped circles (in pink), a large dotted green heart, and some circles in gingham pink and cream writing paper, stuck them all together, and stamped on the central circle (these stamps are from the DoCrafts Papermania Chatsworth collection):

The hearts came with holes in the top, but to get them to hang in a vertical row I had to ask my fiance very nicely if he would drill some extra holes for me. Surprise - I didn't even have to write it on his To Do List. It was done that very afternoon, and I fixed them all together with a very thin pale pink ribbon. From top to bottom this wall hanging measures just under 30cm. I so love the finished article! It is simple, yet very pretty, and certainly a lot prettier than my usual preferences. It also has a certain air of 'age' about it... not wear and tear, and not vintage, but somewhere in between. I'd like to hang it above the bed, that is, if we lived in a nice old country cottage. But in our apartment I'll have to think of somewhere else, since our bedroom is very red. And black. And oriental. Hmmm...

Now, onto the giveaway! Because I bought 6 hearts, and there are only 3 in this wall hanging, I made 2 of them. That means I have 1 to give away, so I hope you like it!

What you'll need to do to be in with a chance to win this lovely line of hearts is leave a comment for me below. But not just any old comment. I'd love it if you could:
  • Tell me what creation of mine is your favourite from August and July;
  • Describe something that inspired you in August or July to do something you don't normally do; and
  • If you have a blog or website, stick the image at the top of this post in your sidebar or some other place and link back to this post.
I'll draw randomly at midnight on Monday 3o August. Really looking forward to your comments!

9 comments:

  1. you have made a great job of altering them. They look fabulous, so pretty!

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  2. Really pretty and kind of "country-kitchen-esq". Keep up the good work!

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  3. I agree with you on the shape of heart and love the colour scheme. Real smooth.

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  4. It's very pretty - I love the little closeup of the tiny little heart.

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  5. why on earth do you want to give it away! hope you made one for yourself as well.

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  6. As requested (and selfishly in order to be in with a chance to win!!:

    • Favourite creation: Exploding Box - but I also love the bag mad eof Ikea fabric

    • Moving house inspired me to cancel my holiday in the Loire valley to do some subterfuge camping (probably in the rain)in Wales.

    • I don't have a blog.

    I have sent/given a load more of your cards in the last couple of weeks. The best feedback was from J's gran who turned 90 who loved the card. She asked me if I made it myself... I hestitated and then told the truth.

    Keep up the craft work!
    xx

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  7. Hi dear... I think every post is of value.. because each entry is worth reading... but I like the one where u were into sewing...cause you tried out something you didn't think you were too good at... I think that is very inspiring... and look at the lovely creations you have manage to make from that attempt! :)
    For me, I hadnt had much time to scrap lately... but I I got inspired to use my polaroid camera and hope to work with the shots on a layout!

    This heart... is a great giveaway by the way! Thank you...wishing you a fantastic day ahead.

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  8. my favourite post from July was the to do list for Adam, so practical but very beautiful at the same time. I was also inspired by all the sewing you did, and in particular the little birds. I have loads of fabric, a great sewing machine, but I always seem to leave sewing till last. Those posts made me want to sew again and indeed I did, I appliqued a fun design on to a plain bag. All your posts are interesting and inspiring.

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  9. My favourite post is your latest, your little donkey is sooo cute ! This same post really inspires me to do the little horse with the felt I bought...

    There's a great fabric shop near "le canal" in Brussels, called Le Chien Vert. You should go once.

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