Photography Session with Mum. June 2021

 So ever since I got my new phone, I've been wanting to get back into my photography and the Samsung S21 has an AMAZINGG camera on it so me being me, I have been going around taking some real close ups of some beautiful flowers that have come into bloom in my parents' garden lately.

Here's just a few I took with my phone.. 

With the title of this post, I then decided the other day to get my big DSLR camera out as we had a good few days of some lovely hot weather. Mum & I got in the garden and got our cameras out and we  were practicing getting some close ups using our Macro setting.   Here are the results..

Head on over to my Facebook/Instagram to see these photographs in a bigger format. :) 

https://www.facebook.com/ABcraftsbyanna

https://www.instagram.com/abcraftsbyanna/

                                I really liked how these came out.. especially this next one... 

...So much so I wanted to get this printed (picture above) ASAP and as big as I could get it at short notice..I went into Boots and used their new photo printing machines and I tell you what if you haven't used them yet, you should! So easy to use and the quality is really good! :) 

...Anyway, get to the point Anna,  I just thought this image was amazing..as soon as I saw it, I thought that looks just like an acrylic painting and it wasn't actually a photograph.. just lent itself to be an acrylic painting perfectly...So... that being said... I am planning on giving it a go! I recently treated myself to some new sketchbooks and an acrylic paint set so watch this space! 

Look out on my instragram as that's where I post regularly. 

@abcraftsbyanna 

Oh and one more thing, I can't do a blog post without posting up one of these either... 

Happy Photographing! 

:) 

x

Whats that you say... ive got a commission!

Well what perfect timing! The perfect opportunity and excuse to explore what else I can do with this new piece of software I've bought recently.  

PC Stitch is a paid piece of software however you can use it as a trial but you're not able to save any of your patterns until you purchase the full version.

So I have been asked by a friend to create a name song for her new daughter. She chose the name 'Aurora' because of a song she and her partner both liked. Therefore, she wanted a paragraph from a Foo Fighters song, which was called 'Aurora'. 

This is what I have come up with so far. It's working up really nicely. I have printed out the lyrics from the song she wanted and using it as a guide to write the words using a needle and thread on a 14count piece of Aida fabric. I am using a nice purple for the details of her daughters name and when she was born etc and the remaining lyrics to be in a different colour. I have chosen blue for this as a nice contrast.  My friend has also asked if everytime it says the word 'aurora' to do that in the purple so it stands out. She had a similar piece of work done by her aunt for her other daughter and wanted it to be similar. 

If you don't already follow me on my facebook or instagram, here are the links...

https://www.facebook.com/ABcraftsbyanna 

https://www.instagram.com/abcraftsbyanna/

I regularly post on these with progress of my current projects and what I am up to. 

xxxxx

Cross Stitch Addiction

Where it started.... #thecrossstitchlife  

  Over the last year or so, I have been slightly addicted to cross-stitch. I found a kit that I had probably bought a good 2 if not 3 years ago that never saw light until beginning of  last year. The first lockdown infact; March 2020, as with everyone else, we were all trying things that we never 'had the time for' because we had all this time on our hands. Even I did at the start with ending up having about 6 weeks out of work. I finally had the guts to start this little project... I was always very " ahh I don't think I would have the patience..!" to at that point in my life in which I was making a lot of very delicate things. So with that being said, I'm going to get this one finished and pop it in my shop I think. 

Watch this space! 

xxxx

New start... new ideas.. new blog name... new logo...& lots more!

Hi all, 

So I haven't posted in a while and as it is a lovely sunny day to be sitting in the conversatory; what better way to be writing up a blog post about the rebranding of my new blog.

I have so many ideas and things on the go at the moment so there is lots of exciting thing yet to come! 

One thing I definately wanted to change was the name of my page and as I really liked what I had before I thought it would be good idea to keep it and just add 'By Anna' at the end. So therefore I wanted to give my name a little logo and me being me I wanted to make it myself. As I have been a bit addicted to cross stitch lately after making a couple of projects, I thought it was the perfect opportunity for me to get a bit creative. 

Here is the logo I have come up with; 

I wanted to encorporate both of my interests into the logo and as I have recently purchased a piece of software called PC Stitch which allows me to design my own cross stitch patterns. It was the perfect excuse to use this to get creative on it.  It has also given me a whole new concept of creating my own patterns that will be different to any other patterns out there. :)  

This is what it looks like on PC Stitch. I am still learning how to use this, there is so much you can do with it. 

So for my logo, I wanted to combine the love of crafts as well as my interest in animals, in particular my cat, Mary.

I mean how can you resist this cute little face....

And as for the crafty side to my logo, I thought buttons was a good one to include.. something simple and yet effective as a logo. 

 

This is what I came up with..

...before I played around with the composition... I came up with this...

So will all that, I have also been working behind the scenes on my facebook and instagram account. 

So if you haven't already come and follow me.. 

I generally post more regualarly on instagram but I have now linked the two accounts so everything is the same from now on. 

https://www.instagram.com/abcraftsbyanna/

https://www.facebook.com/ABcraftsbyanna  

The main thing I have been working on is my new online shop.  I have a lot of things that I have made over the years and therefore I thought it was time I started my etsy shop properly. 

at the same time, I have a few new projects which are going into the shop very soon so keep your eye out on it! But I will be updating you regularly with shop news on my instagram stories. 

Here is the link to that as well.. 

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ABCraftsByAnna

xxxxx

A Blast from the past!

So some sketchbook fun! 

After recently having to go through and sort a lot of my stuff, I knew there was one thing that was left still to go through... my whole entire collection of sketchbooks from GCSE, A-Level and College. I knew this was going to be a task and a half so I planned to do it in my week off for my birthday as I had some holiday still to use and well couldnt really do much else so I thought that was the perfect opportunity..! 

Here is the post from my facebook page from when I managed to get them all down from the loft. I really don't know what I was thinking! haha! 

Luckily for me, I had already gone through what I wanted to keep for future years to come. To be honest I don't think I could live with myself if I chucked my sketchbooks out that I worked so hard on! 

However, I did decide to keep a couple of the little ones down to look through occassionally for old times sake..  :) Even though one of them I did actually promise Mum that she could keep herself.. I am making the most of owning them again while I am still living with the folks. 

Anyway that's enough for now. 

x Much Love x

A bit of watercolour fun.. new blog... new logo.. new name..

So today, I decided I would get the new watercolour palette out that I had bought myself a little while ago.  After going through my old GCSE, A-Level and College Sketchbooks while I was off for my birthday last week,  I thought it would give me some inspiration to get back into loving what I enjoy doing again.  

Anyway, so this is what I have been up to lately. I am starting fresh with a lot of things and one big thing in particular is my blog. This blog, so I hope you are liking it so far. Once I get going again then hopefully I will be a bit better in the content. At the moment, it still feels a bit strange starting fresh but good things will come I promise you. :) 

So, I am playing around with new blog names and logos at the moment and I have a few ideas in mind to which I am just experimenting with before I finialise my design. 

Thought I would still share though! :) 

There's nothing quite like a brand new watercolour palette though! 

Watch this space for more exciting things! 

:) 

x Much Love x

 

Snow Day 24th January 2021

 Day after Mum's Birthday. It was a frosty morning and we decided it would be nice to go for a walk. It ended up thawing out by the time we actually got up and out of the house. As we drove to our secret destination for a our walk it started snowing. A 'light flurry' thinking ahh it wouldn't be much... turned out it got heavier and starting settling on the ground. 

Need I say more...!

x Much Love x

My Lockdown 30th Birthday & New Gadget Alert!

 

The Fabulous 30th ey!! 

Who would've thought I was going to have my 30th Birthday in a National Lockdown I know I certainly didnt! haha! 

I still managed to have the bubbles, amazing food with the lovely family and the gorgeous little nephew (over Zoom of course!)

I did also have the most amazing pancakes in the morning though... 

There is pancakes under there.. honest! I had had made a 4 stack of mini American pancakes and they were soo good! Lots of fruit, creme fraiche and maple syrup drizzles all over it.. 

So last week, I decided I wanted to treat myself with a new smoothie blender. I had seen the Nutri Bullet blender at work and always fancied getting one after my old one wasnt all that good. Thought it would be a good idea to get back onto my health kick again especially after christmas and being at work even through this lockdown... all the snacks because being click and collect only.. whatelse is there to do apart from eat chocolates and biscuit on my shift! :O So having a week off for my birthday, its back to work on monday. It's going to be a take a smoothie to work kinda thing from now on! :) Let's see how long that lasts shall we! haha! xx

xx Much Love and here's to 2021 and some new adventures and maybe a big party when we can! xx

New Blog for 2021!

As for all of us we thought YES 2021 bring it on! Turning out over a month into a new year and we are still living 2020! Crazy to think what we are still dealing with and worse! :( I can only hope and say that everyone please stay safe and well. 

So with this being my first post of 2021, I thought I would bring you some pictures I have taken of some of my favourite flowers recently. I thought it would be a nice idea to get my much loved camera back out.  :)

So the purpose of this blog will be for me to post up whatever I feel like posting, whether it will be lifestyle stuff, crafty stuff and generally just things I am interested in. :) 

x Much Love x