I'd Like To Copy : A Song

1. A Partridge in Pear Tree Cottage, 2. Oriental Turtle-dove, 3. Hen House, 4. Knit the City - Phonebox back, 5. Windmill Ring, 6. Mother Goose: cover, 7. Collection of Kitschy-licious Swans, 8. Milk (wip), 9. dance, 10. sock leap, 11. billie piper aa, 12. Portrait of Hine as small child standing by drum

Can you work out what the song is, and (more to the point) why I'm being so annoyingly mysterious?
Kirsty

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3rd & Bird: 1960s style

Hi.

I just couldn't resist joining in with the 3rd & Bird-inspired posts we had over the weekend from Claire and Hermione, so here I am armed with 3rd & Bird-ish illustrations from a 1961 book I discovered in a charity shop:

*Copy*

Here's 3rd & Bird's Rudy, Mrs Billingsley, Muffin and Mr.Beakman [and yes, I did know their names without checking!]:

*Paste*

And here they are in a previous incarnation ... perhaps:

To feast your eyes or more pages from this beautiful book flutter your feathers over to my blog where there's a whole book full awaiting you.

Oh and ... before I forget ... you're invited to a party this weekend .....

We'll be there .... see you soon!

Julie :-)

3rd & Bird: with guest designer Claire Salisbury

Hi again, welcome to the second half of our guest designers weekend.

Our guest copy + paster today is Claire Salisbury whose daughter brought us the first of our '3rd & Bird' inspired projects yesterday, hop over to Hermione's post here if you missed it.

*Copy*
Following on from Hermione's super-sweet take on the CBeebies animated series, Claire was always going to have big shoes to fill [even though, they're actually a lot smaller in real life ... but you get my drift]. Yet she's certainly risen to the challenge and produced this beautifully colourful and charming bird-filled treasure.
I'll allow Claire to tell you all about it ...

*Paste*

Whilst browsing on Twitter one day Julie & Kirsty were discussing the childrens TV programme 3rd & Bird, [yep, that's about the level of our Tweeting! - Julie] I happened to mention to them that its one of the cartoons (that I'm forced to watch by my four year old daughter) that I really like as the characters are sweet & the main message of the programme is sharing, kindness, & generally being nice to others.

At this point Julie spotted a birdcage on my blog that was in need of altering & asked me to be a guest on Copy + Paste for a 3rd & Bird themed post. I was thrilled to be asked, but will now be watching what I say on Twitter :D

I knew I wanted 3 birds in my birdhouse but couldn't make them work, then Mum had a look in her bookcase & gave me a book called Creepy Creatures by Julie Sharp which shows you how to make pom pom creatures & accessories, its a fab little book with brilliant & easy creatures to make & you can easily adapt your pom poms to make any animal once you've got the basics.
The Wise Owl has a top hat & reading glasses; the baby birdie is wearing a small crochet hat [which I had to cheat & ask mum to make as my crochet skills are still rubbish] and is carrying a small yellow pom pom duck and finally Lady Talluahbelle has a crystal tiara, pearl necklace & a very fluffy tail.

They all live in a crochet nest (once again thanks to my mum & shame at my crochet skills, I really tried but it looked like a pancake) which hangs in the bridcage & has a bit of sparkle here & there. The vines on the outside were very easy to make, I ironed a square of plain cotton onto Vilene to strengthen the fabric, then painted each side with Gesso, left to dry, then painted again with pale green paint.

After that layer had dried, I cut thin strips of the fabric & twisted them around a pencil to make them curly, I found they hold their shape really well, these were wrapped around the bars of the birdcage & held in place with glue dots:I then attached lots of blooms to the vines with Glossy Accents, using buttons or gems as centres, the sign hanging on the front was made using a Tim Holtz Alterations Sizzix Die. The sign was distressed with paint & ink, the letters were also cut using a Sizzix Die.
I really hope you enjoyed stopping by Copy + Paste today & thanks to Julie & Kirsty for inviting me to be their guest.

Claireliz
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Our guest copier Claire Salisbury ...

• Is 30 and lives by the seaside in Blackpool with husband John-Paul, daughter Hermione and Asha ... the aging labrador.
• She works part time and likes to make things at every chance she gets.
• She dreams of owning my own private library and having a really big craft studio.

You can find Claire ....

• Over on her blog: 'Claire's Very Messy Craft Room';
• And here on Twitter: @craftyclaireliz

Thanks Claire, for your gorgeous project today and for loaning us the talents of our youngest guest designer yesterday too.

As for you [yes, I do mean you] we'd simply love it if you'd consider leaving comments on our special guest posts this weekend.

And, as we don't want to be responsible for any mother/daughter rivalry ... we hope you'll leave a comment on both Claire's AND Hermione's '3rd & Bird' projects!

And, before I go ... I'd also love to know if we'd created any '3rd& Bird' converts out there amongst you yet. Do let us know!

Julie :-D

3rd & Bird: with guest copier Hermione [aged 4]

Hi you.

This weekend we're bringing you projects from two special guest Copy + Pasters and while tomorrow's guest designer Claire Salisbury, [aka Clairliz] has a fabulous feathery-friend themed treat in store, today's guest is someone equally as talented and their project is equally as delightful ... and I'm sure Claire will agree ....

*Copy*
Many of you parents out there are probably aware of the CBeebies series '3rd & Bird' , a warm, sweet and sincere animated programme which teaches kids about community and kindness in the most adorable and visually pleasing ways possible!

As a non-parent, this treasure may have gone entirely under my radar had it not been for babysitting a 15 month who's more than a little obsessed with it ... and I'm so glad he is as it's an absolute gem of a series. One which, I admit, I have watched without him being present and one which it turns out, is something of a favourite of Claire's daughter too.

*Paste*
So, once we'd already invited Claire to tackle a '3rd & Bird' inspired challenge ... it seemed in the spirit of the show to invite her daughter to play along with us and we're very happy to say that she accepted ...

Hi, I'm Hermione, I'm 4 years old & Claireliz is my mum. I love sticking, glueing, painting & drawing & I'm always asking mum if I can borrow her scrapbooking things. I've also just started school & I'm having lots of fun playing with new friends.

Julie & Kirsty asked mum to make something based on one of my favourite TV programmes 3rd & Bird, and they asked me to have a go too, I wanted to make a collage with the 3rd & Bird birds so I asked mum to print off the characters from the CBeebies website, which I coloured in:

I told Mum I wanted the birds to walk along a branch, & it needed sky & leaves, so Mum drew an outline for me, then we used coloured tissue paper to make the collage (Mum helped, but only a little bit). I scrunched up the green paper for the leaves to make it look more like a real tree. The little door was Mum's she decided she didn't need it for another project, so I asked if I could have it, she said yes, so I stuck it to the tree trunk, so that Muffin, Rudy, Quinn & Samuel can walk through it.

I really enjoyed making my 3rd & Bird collage & I'm going to stick it to my bedroom wall.

Thank you Julie & Kirsty for asking me to be a guest on Copy + Paste.

Hermione
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Kirsty and I would like to thank YOU Hermione for all of your hard work, especially all of that careful colouring-in!

We love your collage very much and can see why you'd want it on your bedroom wall. We're also wondering if you've managed to get hold of your Mum's '3rd & Bird' inspired project yet ... because we wouldn't blame you if you wanted that in your room too!

As for everyone else reading this ... you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see what Claire's made, so until then, why not treat yourself to a cosy hour in front of some '3rd & Bird' ... just to get you in the mood?

See you tomorrow,

Julie :-)

I've Been Copying: Haiku Hero

Hi, hi, hi.

Last week while on Twitter, I spotted a link to the online game 'Haiku Hero' and couldn't resist clicking through to see what kind of word challenge excitement awaited me ... and I've been playing it ever since!
There are 3 different levels in which you not only have to write a Haiku on the spot ... each individual game has rules in which you have to include specific words, words with certain number of syllables, words which rhyme ... and so on.

Perfect for a word-nerd who loves online games too!

When the round is over, you get to revisit the poems you wrote and you're given an opportunity to share them online: I decided to simply copy and paste mine into a Word document for safe-keeping ... rather than bombard my Twitter stream with the endless end results of my latest favourite time-waster!

And I'm pretty glad I kept them as, despite the initial terror at having to write poetry on cue - with a clock ticking down - I'm actually quite impressed by some of my efforts and decided to illustrate some of my favourites here.

The word I had to include in this one was 'broadcast' [a word which I can't imagine fitting into a haiku unless specifically asked!]:
In this one, it was 'tease': And finally, here it was 'apart':
So far, out of one free online game, I've had a lot of fun writing poetry to order .... followed by an interesting time finding photos on my hard-drive to fit in with my wording ... and I guess I could even keep going and print them off and have a crafty old time turning them into a 'Haiku Hero' mini-book!

If I can tear myself away from playing long enough that is!

Go on. Search for the Haiku Hero inside yourself ... then come right back here and link us up to your heroic efforts!

Julie :-)

I've Been Copying: Mumford & Sons

Hi everyone.

Have you all been happily 'tilt-shifting' left, right and centre since Kirsty's post last week? Fun isn't it?

Well, since then, RosieBird one of our lovely loyal readers nominated us for one of these: I visited Rosie's blog 'Heroine Pretend' to graciously accept the award and after I'd thanked my agent, my family and burst into tears declaring 'you love us, you really love us!', I spotted that one of Rosie's latest post was about taking inspiration from song lyrics.

It sounded like a true Copy+Paste idea ... so I read on ... In her post - titled 'Add Some Music To Your Day' she wrote:

"For me, lyrics don't have to make sense, or tell a story, but they should seem like they do".

And I began to think about songs which stir up stories in me then, when she concluded her post by saying that she felt like she should make some art journaling pages featuring some of her favourite lyrics ... I knew what I had to do!

So ....

*Copy* = in response to Rosie's prompt and Thistle &Weeds by Mumford & Sons:

*Paste* = I made this:

Because, if it's inspirational lyrics you're after ... then seek ye no more ...

"Plant your hopes with good seeds ..."

"Don't cover yourself with thistle and weeds."

Just a few simple words containing something of a huge life lesson ...

Give yourself a chance. Nurture your dreams:

And whatever you do ... don't self-sabotage:

Be kind to yourself.

Believe in, and prepare for, the possibilities ... then make them happen.

Well ... that's my interpretation anyway ...

The lyrics may not mean anything to you. And they mean mean something entirely different. It's like Rosie said:

"For me, lyrics don't have to make sense, or tell a story, but they should seem like they do".

My pages are about what Mumford & Sons seem to be saying to me. It's my story ...

...and I'm sticking to it.

For more interesting lyrics, visit Rosie's original post.

Thanks again Rosie.

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We're always interested in hearing from our readers and have a guest Copier+Paster coming soon who's also a reader. Be careful what you say if you're on Twitter as that's where I recruited her after having an idea related to something she'd tweeted! My username is @notesonpaper if you want to come and say 'Hello'.

Other than that, you can leave comments, links, emails or shout really loud ... if you have anything you want to share!

I'll see you soon.

Julie :-)

I've Been Pasting: Sherlock

Every time I come to write up one of these posts, I'm very wary of gushing or over-enthusing. I'm prone to exaggeration in general, and it's rarely an attractive trait. In this particular case, though, there really is little point holding back – everyone else has beaten me to the gushing and enthusing by. . . well, I would say a mile, but that would be exaggerating.

Sherlock, it seems, has won the hearts of an entire nation. If you missed the most recent TV adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Holmes stories then I’d guess you won’t have to wait long to catch it again. It's unlikely the BBC will shy away from both repeating it here in the UK and licensing it to broadcasters around the world.

Like it seems just about everyone else – from the broadsheets to the redtops, by way of TV critics and even my hard-to-impress mum – I loved all three (just three!) feature-length episodes. Perfectly paced, beautifully plotted and with a script so sparky and satisfying I swear I drove my partner to distraction going on about it, it was the kind of show that makes me glad I own a TV.

So all that said (ok, gushed over), what on earth has it got to do with Copy+Paste? Have I, in the name of blog inspiration, been going out and solving tricksy murders? Thankfully not. The thing that inspired me to investigate, experiment and hopefully pass on a really fun idea to you, was a little bit of camera trickery used most notably in the opening titles.

In case you’ve not seen it before, the trick that makes those wide shots of London look like a model or miniature is known as tilt-shift. It’s something I’ve seen used in still photography from time to time (there are a couple of Flickr groups dedicated to the effect), but had never got round to trying until now.

The good news – for me and for you, if you like the look of it – is you don’t need any real expertise or special software have a go at creating your own fake-miniature images. Upload a suitable photo to the super-clever Tilt-shift Maker, follow their easy instructions and then save back to your desktop. Easy-cheesy!

So far, I’ve only tried it on my existing photo collection, but now I know how it works, I’m definitely planning to go out and take some new shots with tilt-shifting in mind. The kind of images that work best are fairly wide landscapes, especially those taken at height and with a good amount of detail included. If you’re unsure about which of your photos are suitable (or want to go out and try snapping some especially), have a browse through the Flick groups linked above, and you’ll quickly develop a sense of what works and what’s less effective.

You know what I’m going to say now, don’t you? If you, too, are persuaded into Sherlocking a few of your favourite photos, leave us a link in the comments, or post the results in our Flickr group. You could say it’s elementary, dear blog-readers.

Kirsty

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