Catching Up - Photo Heavy

It's been a busy week with lots of new artwork made for trade, to sell and collaborations.  Those of you who have been following me for some time will know my passion for challenges especially if they are art related.  Why do I join these challenges and put myself through the stress of coming up with something that would be acceptable?  Well it's mostly to stretch myself and see if I can make something outside of my comfort zone.

So my latest challenge started last week on Twinkle Twinkle Like A Star (also see my previous post) called Summer of Colour 4.  I came across this on facebook (as you do) and I knew I had to join.  The colour challenge last week was Aqua, Yellow with a dash of Pink.  

The first photograph shows what I did initially but I wasn't happy with it as it just needed 'something'.  The second photograph is the finished piece.  I'm much happier with that version.  I can't wait to see what this weeks colours are going to be. 

  

1st Version

Finished piece

Finished piece but upside down - I like it this way up or should that be down :)

The other items I made are some Artist Trading Cards for trading in a swap I am hosting at a gallery in Altrincham Manchester UK.  I'm a volunteer there and have been given the grand title of ATC coordinator.  I've found that ATC's are not so widely known in the UK and not something that is known in the art industry - the concept of "trading" art is not understood and 'artists' don't seem to be able to grab the concept.  I think it's a great way of owning an original piece of artwork and the best thing is it is open to everyone and doesn't require lots of expensive tools.

Here are a couple of the ATC's I made this weekend.  The one in the middle I made into a Father's Day card for my dad as they are the perfect size to put onto a card.

And finally I'll leave you with a picture of a canvas I finished this week.  It's not very big and the colour is more minty green than blue/green.  The hearts and 'follow your heart' are both made with air drying clay.

Apologies for the long post but I wanted to do a catch up.  I promise my next post won't be as long.  Hope you've all had a good weekend.

I'm linking this post to Handmade Monday over on Handmade Harbour and Creative Monday's it's been a while since I participated in any blog hops.

Women In Business & Networking

Starting your own business is daunting in itself but to be a woman starting out can be even more frightening especially if you work from home and don’t have a “office/work place” to go to.  It can be very lonely and isolating.  

When I started my business I had no idea the amount of support and networking events that are out there.  Some are specifically catered to women,  others are more corporate businesses, business clubs etc.  There are too many to name.  

In my first few weeks of setting up I received a lot of help and advice from The Tameside Business Family run by the local council in Tameside.  This was great in getting to know the practical side of things like tax, book-keeping etc but didn’t really help with connecting to other people in business.

Too read the full article please pop over to my website blog

This is a photograph of some of the group members