The year was 2011.....

Hi there!

For some reason I had the urge today to spend some quality time with my dear old blog, giving a fresh lick of virtual paint. What do you think? It's quite spring-themed in it's colour scheme, which is a little premature, but then the weather as I write is not exactly beautiful (and I don't really fancy a grey blog), so I think I'll stick with it! I have added a few extra bits to the blog - you can now enjoy a mini slide show of my flickr page (which incidentally I have also just updated with loads of new photos). I have also decorated the blog with a few images of my favourite pieces. Lovely stuff.

Christmas is drawing ever closer and things are about to go crazy in my house. For me, social events and festive preparations officially start tomorrow night and don't really let up at all until about the 2nd of January. I am spending my very first Christmas out of Masham this year, and will be travelling down to the Isle of Wight on the 23rd to enjoy the festive weekend there. As a result of the busy times ahead I may not have another opportunity to blog before Christmas, so I'm making this the official Christmas post.

 I want to extend a massive THANKS to everyone who has read this blog, attended any of my workshops, bought any of my pictures or jewellery, or has simply taken an interest in what I'm up to. I've really loved my first year of being a full-time artist, and when I look back to the crazy retail environment I was in this time last year, I feel very fortunate to have been able to do this. I have lots of plans and ideas for next year, including a whole new collection of work and new workshops at ArtisOn, so I hope you all continue to keep an eye on me!

I thought I'd make a little gallery of some of my best bits this year (indulge me - it makes me feel good to see all the work I've done!):

A more detailed archive of my work is now on my flickr page underthecoldtap.

Merry Christmas everyone, have a fantastic holiday!

Rosie x

Saltburn collage needs a home!

Hi there!

This week I'm going to be heading up to The Biscuit Factory in Newcastle to change round some work before Christmas. I'll be taking up a bunch of smaller pieces and bringing home one of my (much) bigger original works, this beautiful deconstructed map collage of the seaside town of Saltburn By The Sea (situated on the north east coast). The piece was made in spring this year, while I was working on a commission, and unfortunately lacked just one or two details that my customer wanted in her piece. It has been on display in Newcastle for a few months and sadly has had no takers. I love this piece, the colours really evoke the seaside-y spirit, and there are a number of details, such as the pier, which you will not find in any of my archive of previous works.

I would love to keep this piece, but that's not really in keeping with the whole 'making a living from selling paintings' thing, is it? So, I just wanted to make an appeal on it's behalf. The picture (which is approximately 45 inches tall and 35 inches wide) will be back with me by the end of this week, and will be residing in my flat/studio indefinitely. I would be more than happy to give seriously interested parties a viewing of the piece, and I may be persuaded to negotiate the price. Please get in touch by leaving me a comment either here on on my Twitter feed @underthecoldtap.

To see more available works please visit my Flickr site here.

Thanks!

Button wreath giveaway and handmade christmas cheer!

Hi there!

Just a quick one today, firstly to invite you to enter a fanstastic giveaway to win one of my handmade Christmas decorations.

The giveaway is not being hosted by me, but by the lovely Kathryn Sharman, the author of the excellent Katgotthecream blog. Kathryn is a blogger and freelance journalist, who tirelessly seeks out creative makers, vintage clothes and accessories, and beautiful home products, and gives them the spotlight on her addictive blog. Kat generously agreed to host a giveaway for me to celebrate the relaunching of my etsy shop Underthecoldtap, which features handmade jewellery and home decorations.

The item up for grabs is this:

A handmade vintage button wreath, made with collected vintage buttons and silver-plated wire. This decoration is perfect for Christmas, but frankly it can be displayed all year round! It's completely unique and there is only one to give away, so for your chance to win check out Kathryn's blog here. If you miss your chance, but would like a button wreath, there will be more listed on my shop very soon, but here's one already up for sale.

In other news, last night we decorated our flat for Christmas, and I felt I had to show you a few snaps. I've been making a lot of decorations this year in preparation for my last two workshops at ArtisOn, so there's a bit of a sheet music/map/tissue paper theme going on here, but being able to work next to a Christmas tree all day is just grand. The paper baubles are on sale in The Gallery, Masham, should you be interested in investing....

Thats it today, have a great run-up to Christmas, shop locally and support your neighbourhood businesses, and don't forget Etsy and Folksy for great handmade gifts.....

Rosie x

Too many projects....

Hello there!

It feels like a very long time since my last blog - I have been trying this month to get my various dreams/aspirations and current projects in order and so far it hasn't worked at all. One day I will have a set time for everything, but for now I spend my afternoon scrabbling around truing to get the materials for my workshop on Saturday into a suitcase, knocking over a huge tin of glass beads in the process. I have a laminate floor, and they really can roll.

I'm running a workshop at ArtisOn this weekend all about Creative Christmas Decorations. This is my second to last workshop this term - in two weeks I'm running Christmas Cards, Tags and Decorative Papercrafts, then I'm done until March 2012. It seems like a long way away now, but I guarantee I'll be picking the floor-fluff of beads two days before that one as well. In case your interested, next years programme of workshops are now on the ArtisOn website to view, and open for booking on the 27th at their open day.

But what I really wanted to mention today is my next exciting event. A while ago you may recall that I promised a re-launch of my Etsy shop Underthecoldtap. Well, after weeks of bead making and button threading, I have a small, 'capsule' if you will, collection of handmade pieces ready for sale. Map-bead necklaces, button jewellery and christmas decorations, this is just the beginning of my online store. Underthecoldtap re-opens on Monday the 21st of November, giving you time to stock up on pressies for people with exceptionally good taste. And to celebrate, blogging sensation Kathryn Sharman, writer of Katgotthecream blog, will be giving away a piece of my lovely stock, so keep your eyes peeled on her blog for that.

Please visit my store on Etsy from Monday and let me know what you think.

Have a great weekend!

Rosie x 

Handmade Christmas...

Hi!

I'm going away this weekend (woohoo!) to Dublin for a few days of exploring a new city, eating nice food and attempting to enjoy Guinness. But before the holiday starts, I need to finalise my next workshop at ArtisOn. I can't quite believe it, but my next workshop is Creative Christmas Decorations. Where has the year gone?

Anyway, I've been making a few samples today for the projects I'll be teaching on November the 19th (limited spaces available, check out the ArtisOn website for more details), and I thought I'd show you.

Firstly there's my button wreaths...

Then a few paper projects, baubles:

... and bunting

I think I'll be doing some tealight holders too.

I also wanted to remind everyone that my Digital Scrapbooking Software giveaway is still on - you could win an amazing software package, tried and approved by me!

For details, see my last post.

Thats all from me, have a good bonfire weekend!

Rosie x

Collage without the gluey mess...

Hello!


Today, I'm introducing a Rosie Scott-Massie Blog first....a giveaway! And it's a pretty great one too - not only do I have a prize for one lucky winner, I also have a little something to give away to anyone who reads this blog or my twitter feed. Christmas has come early people...

I'm able to host this giveaway thanks to the lovely people at My Memories. Not familiar? My Memories create digital scrapbooking software which allows you to make beautiful collages and albums, incorporating your own photos, along with papers and decorations from their massive library. For anyone who wants to give scrapbooking or collaging a go, but doesn't like the sound of gluey hands and piles of  paper all over the place, it's a great alternative, and anything you create will be safely stored on your computer. It's also perfect for children as it's easy to use and mess-free!

I have to giveaway one My Memories Suite software package - the essential kit to get your digital scrapbooking career started. I also have a treat for all the readers of this blog, a discount code worth $20 (just over £12 ) which you can put towards the initial software and some of the amazing additional packages for sale on the My Memories site. Read on for your chance to win...

I must admit, digital scrapbooking is not something I've ever thought of doing, but I had a little go myself and it's great fun. The initial software, My Memories Suite, contains huge amounts of cool stuff to use, and knowing that you can erase you mistakes at the click of a mouse makes it easier to get creative. For some reason, I decided to use the software to make a few scrapbook-style pages about the materials I love to use  in my work...

Each page is really fun to construct, and you can make it a simple or complicated as you like. For my Buttons page, I used a few of my photos, but mainly I relied on the decorations and embellishments in the My Memories Suite software (FYI, each of the buttons in that pile were individually inserted and arranged by me!)

In this page I experimented more with my own images, cutting out segments of paper and layering them to make a digital pile...

It's not just scrapbooking software, this would be perfect for making a special personalized photo album, or wedding invitations, posters for an event...the possibilities are plentiful.

But now for the more serious topic - how to win this brilliant prize. Well, it's pretty easy really. Visit the My Memories site and take a look around - check out their range of digital scrapbooking kits, such as the Halloween and Christmas kits, and leave me a comment for me on this blog telling me which kit you liked the most. Thats it!

All comments must be left before 10am (GMT) on Thursday the 10th November.


The lucky winner will be announced on the blog later that day, and will receive the complete My Memories Suite software (worth $40, or £25 to me) for free!

Here's a little pressie for everyone, hopefully this will tempt you into entering my giveaway..

Discount Code: STMMMS27449


 This code not only gives you $10 off the My Memories Suite software, but also treats you to $10 worth of additional scrapbooking kits of your choice! Enjoy....


Can't wait to see your comments, have a great week, 


Rosie x

Balloons...

In a few weeks time my home town of Masham will be taken over by artists, musicians, poets and visitors for the 2011 Masham Arts Festival. There are loads of different events daily over October half term, and running through the whole week is the Arts Festival open exhibition. I wanted to make a piece specially for the exhibition, something Masham - inspired, and I'm particularly into hot air balloons in my work at the moment, so I've come up with this:

It's not finished yet (obviously), but all the pieces are cut out, so I've included a few detail shots here. I'm really pleased with the details, and the warm, autumnal colours. Hopefully the visitors at the arts festival will like it too!

Rosie

Vintage jewellery inspiration

Hi!

This week I'm devoting most of my time to helping my Dad (artist Ian Scott Massie)with preparation for his forthcoming exhibition at Fountains Hall, and doing my accounts (joy), but I just wanted to write a quick post to show off some of the amazing jewellery created by the attendees of my workshop at ArtisOn last weekend.

As you may know, myself and Josie Beszant ran a course on Saturday called Jewellery - Inspired by Vintage. We had a brilliant day and a really enthusiastic group, who created some beautiful domino brooches, paper beads, and safety pin brooches. Here's some of the pieces that were made...

My next workshop has a festive theme (I can't believe I'm saying that, where has the year gone??) and is all about christmas decorations, but I am currently planning more jewellery workshops for next year, so keep an eye on the ArtisOn website for more details.

As for this week, the first job of the day is listing 'Magical Landscapes - Paintings of Studley Royal and Hackfall and Fountains Abbey by Ian Scott Massie' on lots of events sites and spreading the word about this exciting forthcoming exhibition, which opens at Fountains Hall, Ripon on October the 1st. I know it's going to be fantastic, because I'm helping to hang it. So there. To tempt you along, here is 'The Banqueting House in Snow', my favourite piece from the exhibition (that I've seen so far)...

Have a great week!

Rosie

Hello!

If you've been keeping up with The Gallery's Facebook page, or my Twitter, you will know that Trace, the exhibition I have organised/curated, opened at The Gallery in Masham a few weeks ago. The exhibition preview was really well attended (thanks for coming everyone) and we have even had a few sales, including my largest collage, 'Going Home', which was sold, and removed from the exhibition on the first day! This was great news, however it meant that the beautiful exhibition suddenly had a large blank space on the wall....

Luckily, I had another Masham-based idea in mind, which I have just finished and will be taking to the framers tomorrow. Hopefully this will be ready in time for the last week of the exhibition. The piece is called 'Down the fields'.

My next workshop at ArtisOn is next Saturday, the 17th of September, and is called 'Jewellery - inspired by vintage'. I'm running this workshop with Josie Beszant, and we'll be teaching a number of brilliant projects incorporating vintage and recycled materials into necklaces, brooches and hair pieces. I've been researching and making some of the projects we'll be covering on the day, and here's a few of the things we've come up with.

This is an amazing reversable necklace, made from vintage dominos!

And here's a safety-pin brooch, using vintage, recycled and handmade materials.

I have two more workshops this year after this one, for more information, visit the ArtisOn website.

Thats all from me,

Rosie!