Venice Carnival

 Going to Venice carnival has been a bucket list item for many years.  My first intention was to go and photograph all the masked people... then I decided it would be much more fun to go as one of the masks...

I was so right!

I put together 4 different outfits.

The first one was easy as I already had the skirt, corset and so It just needed a few finishing touches, which included a wig, mask (x2) and something to hold in my hands.

I made the flower rings to go round the candelabra and painted the mask to match the maroon in the skirt and stamped the feathers on it too.

 This photo is from the test run I did in the snow...

This was taken by Optical Emotions Photograhy in Venice.

Next I worked on the Dragon outfit, I purchased a jacket and stencilled the dragon onto it and sewed a chinese clasp over the button.  I also purchased a 3D printed dragon to which I added very strong magnets so he could hang off my shoulder.  I spray painted the hair sticks gold and made holes in my wig so they could stay put.

I also made this dragon egg to hold

This is the table cloth stencil I used to add the dragon to both sides of the jacket.

Then I glued the embroidery I had purchased onto the sleeves.  

They also needed some stitching to hold them in place better.

This was the second hand mask I purchased and removed the hat from.

My living room had a permament set up so I could assess the outfit.

Photo by Craig 

Photo by Patrick Groot

Photo by Stephan Nielsen

Of course I had to have a Steampunk outfit.

I bought a brown cotton skirt and ironed on the gears that I cut on my Brother Scan n Cut from iron on vinyl. amd added some to my hat.

I bought a jacket and added iron on embroidery to it and did the same to the hat so it would all visually link up.

Used the same gears in normal vinyl to add to a christmas ornament that I turned into a septor.

Another second hand mask that I chopped the top off so I could wear the hat... and completely repainted it and added the glitter lips, lace mask and gears.

This was a Christmas candle that got a steampunk makeover.

Photo by Natasha Hoshen

Photo by Gavin Taylor

Photo by Svetlana Kirzh

Last is the Pink Peackock outfit

I started with the black jacket bought at the goth shop.  Then found the pink head dress with the peackock feathers on it at a party shop in Dunkirk, France while on holiday... that set the theme.  So I hunted for anything pink peackock and found the embroidery, the flat beads online and pink peackock feathers at a local florest.

I sewed the embroidery onto the jacket by hand!

Then I found the peackock fabric online and hand stitched it to a cotton skirt I already had.

The original mask that I purchased second hand

This fabric was a nightmare to work with.

This was made from a christmas ornament, handle from a walking stick, crown and beads.

Photo by Peter Simpson

Photo by Natasha

Photo by Patrick Groot

Last few photos were by 2 random photographers who I gave my phone to and asked to take some shots of me.

This was an experience of a lifetime and I loved every minute.

I am published on Amazon and Where did Time Go?

I seem to be missing a whole year here in this blog space.  

Sometimes real life gets in the way, but as the trend this year seems to be looking back 10 years to 2016, it has brought home to me, how good it is to have this place to use as a time capsule.

That being said, for some reason a few photos are missing in posts and some months or years are also gone, goodness knows what goes on in cyber space when you aren't looking...

So here we are, almost at the end of January of 2026.  Already the year is flying by.

But I have made a start and that is what counts!

This year I have decided to start publishing my printable downloads on Amazon for those who don't want to print their own stuff...

you can find it here:  Amazon
I have just received my author's copy and will record a video of how to put this together soon!

Exciting times ahead.

Fab 4 Tour of Australia 2024

 Hello Dear patient reader

I have neglected this corner of cyber space, but thought I would drop by with some close up details of the classes I am teaching from 1 August - 1 September across Australia with The Scrapbooker's Confetti Box.  

In no particular order...

First up is the half day class: Steampunk egg... here are its "mug shots" from different angles...

The classes are over, but the kits with videos are still available here:  EGG KIT

This 17cm tall display piece is full of wonderful techniques including how to get a stamped image on a curved surface! Belinda is supplying the vintage German dictionary paper to use as a base that she sourced in the Berlin vintage market. This piece will be a talking point on display in your home.

Steamer Trunk with 8 Storage Boxes

The classes are over, but the kits with videos are still available here:  STEAMER TRUNK KIT

Being a steampunk at heart, Belinda could not resist designing a beautiful Steamer Trunk based on vintage ones that used to have shaped boxes in the lid. There are 8 boxes inside the trunk that can be used to organise anything you like including large moulded items. The boxes are numbered using beautiful number plates that Belinda photographed in a flour mill museum in Tomar, Portugal. She has also designed all the papers with the beautiful hinges already printed on the paper to make putting the boxes together easy and pretty at the same time. There are also printed instructions to follow.

Here you can see that the boxes are quite accomodating and you can store some large resin pieces in here or whatever takes your fancy!

I based these curved boxes on the ones that were originally in the steamer trunks for toiletries.

Lady Vagabond Mini Album Half Day Class

The classes are over AND THE KITS ARE SOLD OUT

You will make this album from scratch and use the papers that Belinda has designed especially for this project using the photo windows from her Granny’s original album. There is lots of space in this album for photos, tickets and other items and you can arrange things to suit yourself. 4 full sheets of extra paper are supplied for you to matt your photos.

Folio for storing tiny little things

The classes are over AND THE KITS ARE SOLD OUT

You will make this folio from scratch using the papers that Belinda designed specifically to make your life easier to put it all together. She has pre cropped all the shapes so you just have to cut, fold and stick it all together… no cutting and measuring involved in the decorating! You will however need to score and stick the base together which is easy to do by following her clear printed instructions supplied.

Creative Station Suitcase stack for storage

The classes are over but you can still buy the kit WITH VIDEO here: CREATIVE STATION KIT

Storage is an issue in most crafters space and this one will be both practical and pretty! The base is made from MDF and is a great item to store all your things for your favourite hobby. This could be metal embellishments, washi tape or paper ephemera and die cuts. It is totally up to you.

Belinda has designed the papers herself and you will learn how to mix paints to match the colour scheme.

This is an example of the kind of things I had in mind to store in my Creative Station when I was designing it.

Full Day Typewriter class with File storage inside.

The classes are over but you can still buy the kit WITH VIDEO here:  TYPEWRITER KIT

Typewriters are one of Belinda’s favourite things and so she decided to make a pretty, but practical piece to display in your craft room or home. The file storage inside the typewriter can be taken on crops or just stood on your desk to work from. It can house anything from vintage book pages, ephemera, photographs to die cuts. The papers are designed by Belinda specifically for this project and includes images taken from the vintage typewriting lesson book that her mother used in college, back in the 60s!

These are the file folders that slip out of the box inside the typewriter.