Oh No! I Look Like a Man!

I normally work Thursdays but have been off today on strike (I won't bore you with the details). The boys were with the childminder since I'm normally in work, so as I had some rare time all to myself I decided to make the most of it.

The first thing I did was went and got all my hair cut off (I don't recognise myself). Now, I love my children, I really do, but their verdicts when I picked them up tonight were not exactly flattering. Alex is nearly 6. His comments were "You look like a man", and "I hope your hair grows back really quickly". (It's still almost down to my shoulders). Adam (3) has just been giving me funny looks every time I look at him. Matt's not seen it yet, but he'll probably hate it too because he liked it long. At least I like it, and that's the important thing.

The second thing I did was get down to doing to some arty stuff. Firstly I finished the "thing" I've been making for Nicks for her "I Dare You" swap. I'm not putting a piccy of that on here until she's seen it though, and I can't post it yet as I need to wait for it to dry. Two down, two to go. Whew!

Finally I made the ATCs shown here. They're for a swap hosted by Crafty Vonx on the Docrafts forum on the theme "A Touch of Texture" There have to be at least three different textures on each ATC. The top one was done by sticking various textured items onto a mountboard base using PVA glue. The face is moulded using Makin's Clay and then I've pressed some sequin mesh into it. I painted the whole lot black and then dry brushed it in bronze. The crown and hearts are made from metal which I placed on a foam mat and stabbed repeatedly with a needle to texturise it. (I discovered this is a brilliant way to relieve stress!)

For the second ATC I started with an inked mountboard base and stuck sequin waste and fabric mesh onto it. Next I inked up and burnt a baby wipe and tore a piece off it and stuck it on. The square tile is wood which I inked and then covered with three layers of UTEE and stamped the owl into it. I was hoping some of the wood grain would show through but unfortunately I chose a stamp that was too detailed. Also the wood has had an effect that I hadn't expected, and when I left the UTEE to dry it curled up a bit. I thought about taking it off and using a mountboard tile instead, but decided I quite like the effect. Finally I added the button and fibres at the bottom to finish it off.