Mo's Dream Team Project of the Month Blog Hop!

Whoooo-hoooo! It's time for another Mo's Dream Team blog hop and guess what?!  I'm hosting this month's hop and I'm very excited! 

Because we've recently had such beautiful weather here in the UK (not!) and because we're in for another spell of the same, this month I have chosen the theme 'Let It Snow'.  Yup, I wanted my teamies to come up with some snowy creations and I'm sure they've done me proud!  There's certainly been plenty of the white stuff to inspire us over this side of the Pond!

So, kicking off this month is my project:

Image: Mo's Digital Pencil, 'Snowman'

Papers: October Afternoon, Good Cheer collection

Could there be a more perfect image for this theme?  Here's Mr Snowman, his snowy buddies and some snowflakes for good measure!

This is my very first shaker card and I'm quite pleased with the results.  The shaker dome is actually the packaging from one of my rolls of double-sided tape, which is a perfect size for my largest circle Nestie - how cool is that!?  After covering the front of my card with my chosen papers, I cut out the circle and pushed the 'dome' through.  Then I filled it a little with .... stain removing powder! Yup! It was the only snow-like substance in the house and, actually, it's perfect.  Slight draw back in that it has made the dome a little dusty but, hey, it's snowing!

This closeup shows you just how fine the powder is and there's Mr Snowman in his warm hat and gloves, happily surrounded by snow.  No wonder he's smiling - the weather in there is perfect for him!  He was coloured with my Copics and, this time, the 'glow' (difficult to see but definitely there) was added with pale blue pearlised chalk.

Right, on with the hop and next stop is the very talented Debbie and I know there'll be something snowy and gorgeous waiting for you.

Just in case you should get lost along the way, here's the full hop order:

Peri (me!)

Debbie 

Heidy
Mina
Elaine 
Arielle
Lori
Kerttu
Shirly
Jak
Happy Hopping!



xx

Hanging The Star

Well, what a week it has been! The weather has been dreadful - around 9 inches of snow in my garden - and temperatures are very low and getting lower!  And this means, of course, that Rentokill couldn't guarantee to make it to carry out the treatment today so (big sigh of relief) we've rescheduled and I haven't had to pack everything away! Yaaaay! Thankfully, I got to find out just before I started the final push towards packing boxes of books, DVDs, etc., and moving furniture so, other than having had a good opportunity for a clear out, I've not had to live in chaos for the past two days.  I can't tell you what a relief it is.  We still have it to do again mid-January but there will at least be two of us to go at it then!

There's more good news from Australia too - my darling MiL will be discharged from hospital on Wednesday next week and although she will not be as mobile or independent as she was before all this started, she is happy and feels well and we are so grateful to have her still with us.  She is so determined and strong, I'm sure that's what has got her through an horrendous four weeks.  Bless her!  And thank you to all of you who expressed such warm wishes - they have been passed on.

Finally, I came home to some exciting news yesterday but .... I can't tell you about it for another week and it's going to kill me keeping the secret!  Watch out for the announcement.

Anyway, on to today's post, which I hope I am just managing to sneak in before one of the challenges ends tomorrow! 

This will be my entry for:

One Stop Craft Challenge: 'Christmas Cuties'
Scrap Creations Challenge: 'Anything Goes'
City Crafter:  'Blue Christmas'
Cute Card Thursday: 'The Blues'
DP2 Challenge: 'Glitz and glimmer'
Friday Sketchers: 'Sketch challenge' - see below

Cool sketch, eh?

Image: Mo's Digital Pencil, 'Hanging the Star'

Papers: October Afternoon, 'Very Merry' collection (background); recycled brochure cover (triangle)

Isn't this the sweetest little image?  Absolutely adorable in a way that only Mo knows how.  I just want to cuddle her and kiss her plump little cheeks.  

This was a little bit of a challenge to colour, in that it seemed obvious that the light source should come from the almost overhead, slightly to the right, not my usual choice.  There were interesting shadows to capture on the face too, which I hope I've mostly managed.  This little one was coloured with my Copics, with background added with Prismas. 

(I threw a strop today with my Prismas - the more I have to sharpen them, the more I realise that the leads are badly broken inside the pencils, obviously done when shipping.  I'm really cross because on the colours I use most I'm getting maybe half a pencil's worth of good lead.  Not a happy bunny!)

Anyway, back to the card.  Using MS Publisher's preset drawing shapes, I 'drew' and printed several stars in various sizes and coloured them with my Copics so that there was a hint of light source on these too.  Then I covered them in some very fine lemon/iridescent glitter before popping them on the card.  I added just a tiny touch of the glitter to the star in the image, too.

I thought I was being tremendously clever using the old brochure cover for the triangle and, in fact, there's nothing wrong with it at all - it's lovely heavyweight paper.  But looking at the card through the lens often gives a different perspective and perhaps I should have used a different colour/pattern.  But, hey, 'tis done now and I'm not going to beat myself up about it!

So, off to link up then back to a bit more crafting in front of the television.  Need to decide whether chocolate counts as a meal or whether I should actually cook something for myself tonight! 

Take care if you're affected by any of this (or any other) bad weather - keep warm and safe.

Happy crafting.
xx

Kisses For My Sweet

Just a quick post before bed beckons!  I thought I might be too late with this card but, thankfully, I have another 17 hours to submit it for the current Copic Creations challenge, which is 'Shading your paper-pieced pieces'.  As many of you will know, I love paper piecing and I nearly always try to add more depth by shading, either with Copics or with my Prismas. See what you think to this one (with apologies for the bad photography, again!):

Image: Mo's Digital Pencil, 'Kisses For My Sweet' (comes with 4 small 'accessory' images!)

Papers: Graphic 45, 'Christmas Past' collection

Isn't this an adorable image?  I loved it the moment I saw it but haven't been able to find the time to colour it until now.  As the image comes with the small 'accessory' images too (heart, mistletoe, bells and butterflies) it is easy to make this for any romantic occasion.  But, as you can see, I chose Christmas this time.

I paper-pieced all the clothes in this image, with the exception of the ruffles at the neck and the chap's shirt.  Everything else is paper-pieced and then shaded with Copics and highlighted with white. 

I'm really pleased with the background, actually - I had almost forgotten how to cut 'out of the box' so it was a bit of a risk but it paid off.  I chose four co-ordinating papers - I wanted to give the impression that they were standing on a carpet in front of a wall and I think it's worked.  The scallops are just because I went a bit mad with my punches! 

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with this one, although next time I will pay more attention to my light source as my shadows are all over the place! Still, it was late and it's never a good time to craft when your eyes are almost closed!

The house sorting is in full flow - Daughter and I really got to grips with her room and the study this weekend - and, actually, it was good to have a clear out.  In fact, watch out over the next few days - the result of my stash sorting might interest you.

Off to bed now - two duvets on as it's reaaaallllllllllllllyyyyyyyyy cold tonight! And they're predicting more snow overnight too.  OMG!  It'll be up to my knees! (Not really, a bit dramatic that, but it is deep!)

Happy crafting.
xx

Mo's Dream Team Project of the Month Blog Hop

Yaaaaay! It's time for another Mo's Dream Team blog hop and this month we've all got a little distressed about things!  Yup, that's right, our theme is 'distressing', with inks, scissors, sandpaper - you name it, we've used it!  If you've arrived here from the super-talented Jak's blog then you're on the right track.  If not, then hop back over there to start from the beginning. 

When it came to choosing my image this month, I couldn't think of anyone more distressed than this little one:

Image: Mo's Digital Pencil, 'Broked'

Papers: Graphic 45, 'Halloween in Wonderland' and 'Christmas Past' collections

Oh the poor dear - isn't she the cutest little poppet though?  She seemed the perfect choice for this month's 'challenge'.  I don't do distressing very often so I was a bit nervous about this one.  I chose the muted/vintage papers because they seemed more appropriate to the theme and I had inks to match! The brown mat was edge-punched with Martha Stewarts Scallops and Dots punch before being generally mistreated with my scissor blades and curled and torn until I was happy.  Mind you, looks like poor Teddy is much more distrssed than my card!

I coloured the image with Copics and shaded with Prismacolors (as usual), keeping the pallet light so as not to clash too much with the papers I'd chosen.  I can't wait to have a go with the other images in this series too - they're all equally cute and forlorn-looking!

Right, it's time for you to hop over to the amazing Debbie's blog, where I know she'll have something fabulous waiting for you.

Enjoy the Hop and happy crafting.
xx

Mo's Dream Team First Anniversary Blog Hop

It's time for a celebration at Mo's Dream Team - it's a whole year since the Dream Team Blog began and what better way to celebrate than with another fantastic blog hop?!  This month's theme is 'Frogs and snails and puppy- dogs tails, that's what little boys are made of.'

And this time, in honour of our first birthday, we're inviting you to join in by uploading your card via the link on the Dream Team blog.  Just use one of Mo's images and show us your best boy - we'd love to see what you come up with.

So on with the hop - if you've arrived here from Jak's blog, then you're on the right track.  If not, why not hop over to Kerttu's blog and start from the beginning because you won't want to miss the wonderfulness along the way.

So, without further ado, here's my offering this month:

Image: Mo's Digital Pencil, 'Monday's Child (B)'

Papers: Cosmo Cricket

Wordart: Create with TLC 'The world is mud-lucious and puddle wonderful'

I adore this little chap - what a sweet little face - who could be cross with him, mess or no?

And I love the sentiment, too - it's a quotation from the (weird and wonderful) poet e. e. cummings (and yes, it is all in lower case!! Don't ask!) - and it's perfect for this image, methinks.

I have to say this reminds me of my friend's little boy - a blond curly-haired little angel if ever there was but just as likely to get covered in mud.  Boys!

So, on with the blog hop and next you'll be wanting to go to Debbie's blog, where I just know there will be something wonderful waiting for you.

And don't forget to join in with the fun - the more the merrier to help us celebrate.

Happy crafting.
xx

Falling For Sadie

Well, it looks like autumn has arrived here in the UK - the days are shortening, there's a dampness in the air and the leaves are turning.  The Viriginia creeper in my back garden is turning a beautiful shade of russett and that's where my inspiration came from for today's card.

This one will be my entry for the following challenges:

Stamptacular Challenge - Fall colours
Simon Says Stamp - It's Autumn

Image: Mo's Digital Pencil, 'Sadie with Apples'

Paper: Scenic Route

Wordart: Create with TLC

It was the paper that first inspired me, it has to be said.  I had been looking at the Virginia creeper and then, when I came in and went through my stash, I came across this beautiful sheet of fall leaves - delightful! I love it's bold design and the gorgeous autumn colours. The photograph doesn't really do it justice - I haven't captured the richness of the colours very well.

Then I looked at Sadie, and realised that her skirt reminded me of the points of the creeper leaves and off I went!

I coloured her up with my Copics, of course, and added the usual grounding and glow with my Prismas.  Then I went over the apples with a good coat of my Sakura clear glaze to give them a polished, rosy feel.  Yum - good enough to eat!

Sadie's beautiful curls reminded me so much of Daughter so Sadie became a redhead - very fitting for the time of year!

I cut a window in the front of the card and placed the greeting inside, peeping through.  I love the wordart from 'Create with TLC' - there's lots to choose from and it's all beautifully drawn.

So, an early post for a Saturday morning - we have friends arriving later so I've lots to do.  I think a nice big stew for dinner - perfect for an autumn evening - comfort in a pot!

Have a wonderful weekend.

Happy crafting.
xx

Oz's Scarecrow

Last Sunday, we were travelling home from a trip to Yorkshire Lavender in Terrington, near York, (and I can highly recommend a visit, if you haven't already been!) and came across a Scarecrow Festival in the village of Gate Helmsley.  It was lovely - all sorts of creative scarecrows were visible from the road: one dressed as a builder, climbing a ladder; a super one of the vicar, in the church yard; a farmer in the local farm shop car park ... it was delightful!  For some reason, scarecrows always remind me of the autumn, perhaps because I associate them with Harvest Festival (it's probably the straw that does that!)... and it's true to say that we are having some particularly early autumnal weather at the moment, too! 

Today's card is my DT card for Mo's Dream Team and I shall also be entering it into the following challenges:

Inspirational Card Sketches

Simon Says Stamp - 'Paper piecing'

And here it is:

Image: Mo's Digital Pencil, 'Scarecrow'

Papers: 'Harvest Spice' digital papers by Shabby Princess

As you will see, I've rotated the sketch by 90 degrees as this fitted better with what I had in mind.  These papers were the perfect choice for Mr Scarecrow, I think.  Even the name conjoured up the right colours and feeling.  There's not much separation between the layers, only chalked edges, but I think it works ... maybe I could have introduced some burnt orange matting or something but, hey, 'tis done now!

I wanted to get a real 'scarecrow' feeling: sacking head, bits and bobs of old clothing for his garb, etc., so I chose to paper piece him.  His gloves, legs and feet were coloured with my Copics and, of course, the grass and the background were added with Prismacolors but the rest is paper pieced, even down to using different 'patches' on his raggy trousers. I then went in with my Prismas and added some extra shading to give a bit more depth to the paper piecing, which is what I usually do, so that the image isn't too 'flat'. 

My OH is really taken with Mr Scarecrow, for some reason, and thinks it's one of the best images Mo has produced.  I must say, he was a joy to put together and I'm loving the whole 'Wizard of Oz' range that Mo has produced recently. 

Well, we're having a weekend of getting Daughter ready to return to university and today has been spent buying new bedding and kitchen 'stuff'.  It's exciting because she'll be in a shared house off campus this year, with a nice large room and her friends around her.  I'm a little sad, though, because I shall miss her all over again, as she has been home for around 7 weeks now.  Still, it's good to know that she has a happy life of her own that she is excited to return to. 

Hope your weekend is a good one.

Happy crafting.
xx

Mo's Dream Team Project of the Month Blog Hop

Yes, dear Crafty Bloglanders - it's time for another fantastic blog hop and this month our projects are all about die cuts, Nesties and punches. If you've arrived here from Elaine's blog, you're on the right track. If not, why not hop over to Rosette's blog and start from the beginning, 'cos' you won't want to miss out on all that wonderfulness!

So, without further ado, here's my offering this month:

 Image: Mo's Digital Pencil, 'Kitty Kai'

Papers: 'Frightful' digital papers by Katie Pertiet

Sentiment: Is also a digi download, (which may have come with the digital papers, actually, although I'm not sure).

Tools: Nestabilities Label 2; Nestabilities Scalloped Circle; Woodware 1.5" circle punch; Floral Punch fern sprays

Isn't Kai the sweetest little cat? This is such an adorable image.  I'm not usually a Halloween kind-a-gal, for personal reasons, but I know it's becoming more and more popular over here in the UK and it's really difficult not to join in, particularly when there's such a wonderful selection of Halloween images, like this little gem.

Kai was coloured with my Copics (and I have some nice warm grays now!) and then I added ground and glow with my Prismas.  I used this gorgeous purple this time as it picks up the purple in this fabulous paper.  Inspired by his pumpkin and my scalloped Nesties, I had the idea of creating kind of half-pumpkins at each side, with leaf tops punched with my fern spray punch.  Watch out for those scalloped circles - my little brain is working overtime with the Halloween theme now!

So, mine is the last post this month and so it's my turn to link you up to Mo's Digital Pencil, where you will find more beautiful images and inspiration.  Check out her latest Wizard of Oz images - fantastic!

And just in case you've missed anyone along the way, or, better still, you need to hop all over again to soak up the inspiration, here's Rosette's blog, where you'll find the first of my wonderful Teamies' fabulous projects.

Happy crafting. 
xx

Turning Cartwheels!

I was never very good at gymnastics - cartwheels turned into bunny hops and I simply hadn't the courage to flip and climb and balance! My thing was dancing - give me music and I would move!  But I always admired friends who could turn a perfect cartwheel, and particularly those who could happily cartwheel along the edge of the school field, fearless, free and fabulous!

Which brings me to my card for today.  This one is for the DP2 challenge and is also my Mo's Dream Team card for this week.  I feel I have neglected my darling Mo the last few days so apologies all my Mo fans - this one is for you.  (Don't forget the Dream Team blog hop on Thursday though!)

This week's DP2 Challenge was an inspiration photograph - check out these colours! 

So here's my card:

Image: Mo's Digital Pencil, 'Georgie's Cartwheel'

Papers: Scenic Route

Tutorial: Splitcoaststampers, which you can find here.

I simply had to make a spinner card with this little guy, as soon as I read Mo's comment 'Turn him on his head and he's jumping for joy'.  I adapted the tutorial a little to fit my needs, as I wanted just a strip for the spinner itself - but it was easy to do once I'd got the idea of the spinner working properly. I'd hope to do an 'action shot' but I'm hopeless with the video!


This beautiful striped paper is perfect for the colour challenge, don't you think, and these beautiful bright buttons were just waiting for this challenge to come along!

So, rather than the action shot, here are the stills:















Off he goes ......

   .... jumping for joy .....

... and the cartwheel comes to an end!

How cute is he!? I'm delighted with this one -he's so jolly! I coloured him with Copics, as usual - although colouring someone upside down and the right way up is quite difficult! The shadows would fall in slightly different places depending on which way up he is.  Still, as my shadowing is never particularly accurate, I reckon I've got away with it!  

Sorry about the ridiculous layout on this post - I'm having real trouble with Mr Blogger at the moment - he simply won't put things where I want them and I don't know what's changed to make him act like this! I'll have to investigate!

So, off to link up and then it must be time for lunch - I need a big salad to counteract all those yummy calories from Sunday's cakes!

Happy crafting.

xx

A Visit from The Tooth Fairy

My nephew, when informed at age 10 of the dubious existence of Santa Claus, took the news very well.  However, when told in the same conversation that the Tooth Fairy was also only a magical children's character, he was distraught!  I guess there's nothing quite like finding money under the pillow where your tooth used to be - I often wish there was an adult equivalent!

So today's post is all about a busy little Tooth Fairy, who is just flying in with her latest acquisition for her tooth box:

Image: Mo's Digital Pencil, 'Tooth Fairy'

Other: Not a lot! No papers, just some scraps of pearlised card and a few self-adhesive pearls from my stash.  Plus the secret ingredient - a 1.5 cm strip of acetate!

I so wanted this little fairy to fly.  She's adorable and although I know I could have come up with a really cute card, I just thought she should fly!  I also thought there should be somewhere for her to store her 'gems', so here she is, flying in to put her latest shiny tooth in her tooth box. 

The box is only 2cm high/wide/deep - a tiny little thing - sandwiched between two scalloped squares cut with my Nestabilities dies - the smallest one.

There's a little piece of ribbon wrapped around it and the 'lid' is decorated with pearls, fit for a toothy princess.

The strip of acetate is bent 90 degrees at one end and secured underneath the base of the box.  Tooth Fairy is attached to the other end and appears to be flying (I hope!).

Coloured up with my Copics, as usual, there was no need for extra 'glow' with my Prismas on this one.  I cut her out right on the line, so that there weren't any stray white bits around the edge.  (In fact, as you can probably see, I cut a little tooooo close in a couple of places and I've lost the outline altogether - pooooey!)

I couldn't resist a little Glamour Dust on her wings and on her newly collected teeth, just for some fairy sparkle.

I'll be entering her in this week's DP2 Challenge, where this week's theme is 'Things with wings'.  You should check out the DT's creations - they're supercute this week.  AND if you fancy being a guest designer for Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge DT, then enter this week's challenge and you never know, it could be you.  Mo and the team are looking for a Guest Designer for September, which is a wonderful opportunity for one of you to work with this very talented team.  AND (yup, there's more!), this week one lucky person will win a $20 gift certificate for Mo's store.  How much more incentive do you need!?

Happy crafting.

xx

Mo's Dream Team Project of the Month Blog Hop!

Yes, dear Crafty Bloglanders - it's time for another fantastic blog hop and this month our projects are inspired by Fairy Tales.  If you've arrived here from Liza's blog, you're on the right track.  If not, why not hop over to Elaine's blog and start from the beginning, 'cos' you won't want to miss out on all that wonderfulness!

So, once I'd recovered my mojo from under the sofa, where it appears to have been hiding for a few days, I had a good old think about this one. Mo has some wonderful fairy tale images in her store, so it was just a case of which one to use and how.  Now those of you who are regulars here might remember that I was once a bookbinder and fairy tales come in books so ...

Image: Mo's Digital Pencil, 'Grim Red'

Paper:  Hand-printed paper, bought some time ago at a bookbinding conference.

Tools:  Gold tooling stylus and gold foil.

This image is a perfect image for a book of Brothers Grimm fairy tales so I decided to make a slip cover for just such a thing.  This isn't a bound cover, just the sort of protective paper cover you find on hardbacked books, so it was easy to make. 

Because of my time as a binder, I'm lucky to still have some beautiful hand-printed papers and this one had just the old-fashioned feel I wanted.  I measured the book top to toe and then cut a strip of paper to that height, making sure it was long enough to wrap around the book and tuck into the front and back covers.  It's that easy!

I coloured the image up with my Copics - I had thought that maybe my Prismacolours would be a better bet but I wasn't sure I'd get the strength of colour I needed.  So Copics it was and, actually, it has come out better than I had hoped.  I was worried how to cover the immediate background (the bit behind LRRH) without the whole image becoming too heavy so I used random dots of various greens to cover the area, with the odd dot of red and white to suggest flowers.

I bought my gold tooling stylus many years ago, at a large craft fair at the NEC, if I remember rightly.  It's useful for addiing a touch of gold foil to all sorts of surfaces and, of course, when I was binding, it was very useful for tooling titles and designs on books.  So I brought it out of retirement and added the title 'Grimm Tales' to the cover.  ('Grimm' is spelled with two 'm's as it is 'Brothers Grimm' - I haven't forgotten how to spell, honest!)

It was really difficult to catch the light properly on the title, particiularly as I'm not the world's best photographer (as you may have noticed!).  (Note to self: must do better!)  You may see it better on this photograph, though.  I chose an old-fashioned font for the title, in keeping with the paper and the image, I hope.

So, that's my project today - a fairy tale dust cover. Now you need to hop off to Cheryl's blog, where I know you'll find something scrumptious to feast your eyes on. 

In case you get lost along the way, here's the full hop list:

Elaine Hughes
Rosette Camilleri
Lori Boyd
Jak Heath

Liza Carruthers
Peri (that's me!)
Cheryl Rowley
Debbie Pamment
Mina Hartley 
Michele Seward

Happy hopping!
xx

Prima Ballerina

Ooooh, an unexpected morning to myself so I could wait no longer to show you the project I've been working on since I got back from holiday.  I'm quite excited about this one and I hope you'll love it as much as I have loved making it.

This is my Dream Team project this week and also my entry into this week's challenge at the City Crafter Challenge Blog, the theme for which is 'Shades of Green'.

The minute I saw 'Prima', the adorable and curvy ballerina by Mo Manning, I thought of a musical box ballerina, turning pirouettes.  I knew there had to be a way to engineer something that would move so that Prima could achieve her pirouetting potential!  As usually happens in these instances, I went to bed with the idea in my head and then bounced out at around 6.00 a.m. with the mechanism clearly in my mind.  Let me show you the pictures and then I'll try to describe how she was made.

Image: Mo's Digital Pencil, 'Prima'

Papers: Cosmo Cricket

There are two images here - both 'Prima' but one is flipped to face the other way.  I printed the images out side by side on my paper and then  coloured them with my Copics, carefully matching what seemed like each stroke to get two identical ballerinas, one facing left, one facing right.  All will become clear, I promise.

Here's the close up - you can see that I have cut very closely around the images (yup, there are two, believe me!). 

The little red roses were made by roughly cutting various sizes of circles from red paper and then spiral cutting the circles and winding them to create the rose.  Check out this tutorial on Papercraft Planet - it's easier than me trying to explain!

So, here's the bit I've been dying to show you.  This project has been ready for a few days and it has killed me waiting to get it posted, but I needed to video Prima in action and I'm afraid I've been having some troubles getting to grips with the video. 
Here goes ......

Well, did it work for you?  Did you see Prima dance?  Isn't she beautiful? 

Unfortunately, I didn't remember until toooo late (of course) to leave one ribbon much longer than the other - if I had done so, Prima would have been able to pirouette much longer but you get the idea. 

The mechanism is really quite simple.  It is an empty cardboard ribbon reel with two pieces of ribbon attached to it, one which winds to the right and one which winds to the left.  I created a groove for the reel to sit in, so that it was held in place, and by pulling one ribbon the reel turns and winds the other ribbon on to itself.  Pull the other ribbon and as it comes off the reel, the first ribbon will wind itself on.  Backwards and forwards - simple!

I encased the mechanism in a box, punched two holes for the ribbons to thread through and knotted beads on to the end to make pulling easier.

Now, the two Primas I coloured and cut are joined together around a single stick (a thin wooden barbecue skewer, actually!) so that they match perfectly.  The stick goes through the box and into the reel (I had to make sure that the holes were small enough to hold the skewer upright but large enough to allow it to turn), so that when the ribbons are pulled, the skewer turns.  With Prima secured around the skewer, therefore, she also turns. 

I had to make sure I allowed enough room for her arms to turn freely, so the 'stage' back needed to be set away from the working bit.  I added the fan of red between centre stage and another box that I attached to the back, to give support to the larger fan I used as the background. 

Now, I'm making no promises here but I think quite a few of you would be interested in exactly how she was made so I will try to put together a video showing the mechanism and basic components.  How long will this take?  No idea, but I'll make sure to let you know when it's ready!

Hope you've enjoyed this one.  I'd love you to leave a comment if you have!

Happy crafting.
xx