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December 30, 2010

Too much time on my hands?

What happens when an insane person is left to her own devices with a Kaisercraft bookstand and some things to make stuff?.......
This is the King Green Bottle, the evil sorcerer king.

This is where he hangs out, his lair if you will, where he does the kind of nefarious stuff that evil sorcerer kings do.


So here is King Green Bottle hanging out in his lair, while upstairs the Little Prince (that's his name, he came in a Christmas cracker with a label saying so) has crept in and freed the freaky looking princess that King Green Bottle had captured (in a bottle, of course!).

I had fun making this LOL so yes, I read too many fantasy novels, yes, I have too much time on my hands at the moment and yes, I am way over the madness horizon and accelerating.  Your point is.........?

Hope everyone had the best Christmas (I had a great time just relaxing and spending time with my DDs) and that 2011 brings you all that you could wish for xx

December 19, 2010

Snow is falling

Well, not actually falling at the moment, but it has been falling and is now sitting there looking menacing!  The worst of it fell yesterday, but luckily I had headed home early on Friday as, once a few flakes of snow fall the whole of the rail network grinds to a halt.  I managed to get my grocery shopping done on the way home so I haven't needed to go out during the heavy snow.  So, I have spent the weekend making cards for my two DDs. The first one is obviously based on t!m's tag.  I changed the colours, used a musical stamp instead of script, used the whole of the Townscape die and added some Snowtex to the houses, plus a couple of trees to fill up the space at the edge.


The second one just sort of evolved.  I started with a paper napkin with a Santa on that I wanted to use.  Once that had dried and been trimmed I gave it a wash of Mushroom Eco paint and some mica powder then wondered what to do next!  I finally decided on using some PaperArtsy bauble stamps on some chipboard I had coloured with Inca Gold and Viva Precious Metal, cut these out and attached them with ribbon underneath a Basic Grey chipsticker.  It looks much sparklier in real life.

Scary thing, these are the last two cards I needed to make, so I am all finished with almost a week to go!! I have also decorated the cake, tidied the living room and put up the Christmas decorations. I am obviously a pod person and the real me has been kidnapped by aliens :o

Ah well, four more work days to go (I don't have to work on
Christmas Eve).... maybe the snow will come back tonight and I will be snowed in :)

Hope everyone is keeping warm and safe.

December 12, 2010

Tag 10

I know, what happened to the tags between?! Well, snow melted so I had no more excuses to stay home so had to go in to work :(.  Anyway, I have been printing off the destructions and saving them so I can play later.  However, I had to make a christmas card for a dog (don't ask!) and Tag 10 seemed to fit the bill, with a bit of adaptation (a black dog instead of a white snowman for a start) so here it is:




Didn't have anything t!m used this time, so I improvised.  The pine tree stamp is at least a t!m stamp!  So this is little black dog playing in the snow at Christmas - or maybe incased in ice, depending on your point of view. 
I've had fun playing along when I could.  Next year maybe I should take two weeks off work so I can play every day! Everyone has made some amazing creations and the different improvisations have been stunning and as inspiring as t!m's original creations. Same time, same place, next year :)

December 05, 2010

Interlude

For some reason I couldn't get going on Tag 5 today, my t!m mojo went missing :(  Instead I made a birthday card that I have been putting off for a while.  Inspiration struck and I set to work putting it all together:




I did all the stamping (PaperArtsy Hot Picks) in Aged Mahogany DI, Coffee and Jet Black Archival, and was quite pleased with the result.  The background paper is a sort of linen colour and the colours really went well together.  Stuck the lace trim on the bottom, mounted the whole thing onto the card blank, inked up the Birthday Wishes stamp with Aged Mahogany and stamped it.... UPSIDE DOWN!!!!  It looked beautiful, except for the greeting being up the wrong way :o
Did some quick thinking and cut a nestie label from the left over background paper, stamped again onto that (the right way up!) and mounted that over the mistake.  Only problem then was it covered part of the top of the thistle, so I rummaged through my stash and found some Prima flowerage in a suitable colour and stuck that in the right place.  Phew! I don't think anyone will notice, as long as you guys promise not to tell!

December 04, 2010

Tag 1

So I decided to make the tag from day 1 instead today.  I didn't have the rickety house die so I downloaded a Maya Road template and cut that out of chipboard.  I didn't have the texture fade so I added texture by using molding paste and heating it till it went lumpy bumpy.  I didn't have the on the edge picket fence die (are we seeing a pattern here?!) so I downloaded a fence pattern from the internet and hand cut that out of grungeboard.  After all this I noticed the house template was rather large.  Too large for a tag, or even a card, so it has become a wall hanging!
I used my trusty Maya Road branch from day 3 for my tree, and the background is paper from the K&Co Winter Wonderland stack. I couldn't find anything to make a wreath so I used a metal embellishment from my stash that fit the bill.  I decided to decorate inside the window by using some paper that looked like wallpaper, stamping a christmas tree on it then decorating the tree with adhesive gems and a star so it looks like there is a decorated tree inside the window.  I used fun flock and mica powder for the snow.  For some reason I can't find my white glitter.
If you want to look at everyone's interpretations of the tags and post yours for us all to share, pop over to Arty Jen blog and join in.

The Finished Article

Taking a break from t!m's tags today.  I love the tag he has made, and I really, really want that trim from Michael's, but I don't have any of the materials (except a Prima flourish) and nothing I can improvise with, so I am going to sit this one out.  Instead I will entertain you with the final episode of the display box:



Here it is finally finished! The flash bounced off the glass a bit, so I took another shot without flash, but that didn't show the colours properly:






and here's another peek inside.

I'm pleased with how it turned out :)

December 03, 2010

Tag 3

on day 3... it's a miracle!



So it's a card again, and this time the only things I had were tissue tape and a memo pin!  The bird is Maya Road chipboard and I just couldn't find a suitable stamp so I improvised and drew around a Maya Road chipboard branch.
No adventures today, just stayed in, kept warm and played.... bliss :)

t!m's No. 2

Twelve days tag that is!! I have religiously printed off every single one of the Twelve Tags from his lordship's blog every year and saved them all in a lever arch file (having to start a new one this year as the other one is too full!), but this is the first time I have actually done one!!!  I have used the techniques and tips but have never actually made one.  So.... drum roll please... here is my take on day 2 of The Twelve Tags of Christmas 2010:

I didn't actually have any of the right stamps, or the right DI's (other than Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany and Walnut Stain), but hey, there's a branch and a greeting and a flourish and a bird!! What's more, the greeting and the flourish are actually t!m stamps...  just not the right ones.  I flicked some water on the tag after I blended the background DI's just because I like it that way, and I mounted the finished tag onto a card because I felt like it.
I am having a snow day at home today :) Yesterday I made it in to the office (nobody else did!) and collected some work to do at home (which, as you can see, I am not doing LOL) then set off for home.  I got on a train at Surbiton at 12.46pm for the journey to Clapham Junction which usually takes 15minutes.  The train got to Clapham Junction at 14.48!!! 2 hours!! Worse part? No loo on the train.  Now bear in mind I am a 51 year old woman who has given birth 3 times and had pelvic radiotherapy and brachiotherapy for cervical cancer.... bladder control is not in my skill set any longer! Fortunately Clapham Junction has a large deparment store close to the station with decent toilet facilities so that was where I headed as soon as I got off the train! No way am I attempting to get in today.... not without a catheter anyway, lol.
Hope everyone is safe and warm today!

November 24, 2010

Back to WOYWW at last

I finally have a few minutes free to join back in with the WOYWW fun, woohoo!  For those of you who don't know about this internet craze... where have you been?! Hop on over to Julia's blog and check it out, it's fun, it's free and it's addictive!
So, my free time is fairly limited (I am meant to be working right now!) so I snapped a quick pic of my desk with my phone this morning as I was on my way out the door.  The quality is not good, which is probably for the best, and those of you of a nervous disposition may want to look away now.  Here it is.....
...eeeeeek!!  In my defense, I have barely had enough time to do any crafting let alone tidy up after myself.  Mind you, it is a mess, isn't it, even for me?  I have managed to do a bit to my display box thingy.  I've been playing with that Clearly For Art type stuff that you can stamp and colour then heat and mould.  I've nearly finished it, I just think it needs something else on the outside there, but not sure what just yet.
Off now to actually do some work before my boss notices I'm not actually typing up a design spec right now :o  Catch you all later.. Happy Wednesday x

November 22, 2010

Celebrate!

Firstly I am celebrating this gorgeous ATC from Donna . It arrived late last week but I haven't had time to blog it until now.  Isn't it fabulous?  There is so much going on and she is just beautiful!  Donna says this is how she sees me, which is very flattering (and I looove my hat :))  This ATC is one of a set to celebrate Donna's first 50 followers, so if you were one, get on over there and request your very own piece of art.


Second is my celebration spread in my willowing altered book.  This is the second part of week 3 (this is my 5th week ... I'm a bit behind!).  I now have an empathy monster to make as the final part of week 3, then on to week 5.  The background is all lovely and grungy and dimensional and, as I have used some cosmic shimmer mists, very sparkly - none of which shows in the pic :o

So, Christmas is fast approaching (eeeeeek!). Is everybody all ready and organised? Nah, me neither!!

November 15, 2010

Art Heart Healing week 3

on week 4!  ok, ok, so I'm behind with my willowing but I was away all last week and didn't even get to watch the videos until Friday!  Here is my front cover.  Messing with the photo was fun, a sort of guilty pleasure actually scratching and painting on a photograph!.  Yes, it is me, but about 10 years ago!  I've written on the tag on both sides.

It kind of sums up what being me is all about, falling over a lot LOL.

So, I still have to do my celebration spread, and make my empathy monster.... I might manage to get the spread done through the week, but I think the sewing machine monster will have to wait until next weekend!  I am really getting a lot from this course in terms of healing, which I didn't think I would, and in terms of technique.  Tam really is an amazing person and her generosity in doing all this work for free is astounding.  I'm loving every minute of it and will be signing up for the Mythical Creatures course as soon as registration opens.

November 14, 2010

Another week over

...and what have I done.  Well, I've been away for most of it with work, exhibiting at a conference in Bournemouth and trying very hard not to get blown in to the sea (when I wasn't trying hard not to be bored to death!).  All in all a very dangerous week.  Got home late on Thursday, then had loads of catching up to do on Friday in the office.
Over the weekend I have managed to do some crafting.  Here are a couple of gift bags I made. This first one started out as a green bag, and it's still a green bag!! It was originally a dark, flat green which I spritzed with Peacock Green shimmer mist so it's now very sparkly (which doesn't really show in the pic).  I coloured some grunge paper with Peeled Paint DI, then spritzed it with the same shimmer mist.  After that I stamped t!m's reindeer with versamark and embossed with gold then cut him out and attached him to the bag.  I put the gift inside, folded over the top of the bag, made a couple of holes with the Crop-a-dile and tied with green ribbon.
This second one started out as a plain brown take away bag.  I covered it with Fired Brick DI then spritzed it with Red Firefly shimmer mist.  After that I stamped t!m's snowflake flurry in versamark and embossed in white.  The snowman (t!m's) was stamped onto grungepaper that had been coloured with Fired Brick in versamark and embossed in white as well.  He was cut out and stuck to the front of the bag too.  The gift isn't in this one yet, because it is still a bit damp from all the shimmer mist spritzing so it might split if I don't let it dry out properly first!.  Once it is dry I will put the gift in and then seal up the top with some ribbon (it's for my daughter and she will peek if I don't make sure it is sealed up securely!)

Well, conference/exhibition season is over for the year, so things should be a bit less hectic for a while at work, thank goodness! Hopefully I can get some more "me" time for crafting.
Hope everyone has been having a good weekend.

November 07, 2010

Where have I been?

I've no idea! Turning the clocks back seems to have stolen my life, I have no clue what has happened to the past week.  Anyway, last post I promised to report back "on Sunday" on the 2 Scrap Ladies card marathon.  I didn't say which Sunday though, did I?!  So here I am, a week late. 

I had a really good time, met Julia in person which was fab, and Lunch Lady Jan's cakes and lunch were superb.  Made a total of 17 cards which you can see here and genenerally had a creative, chatty, great time with lots of lovely people.  I also feel a lot more confident about making cards now.

Apart from wondering what time it is this week (always seems to be at least one clock in the house that doesn't get altered every time and sits there waiting to confuse everyone!) I have been continuing with the Art Heart Healing course (button over on the right) which is free and absolutely fantastic.  Tam is really not skimping on the content on this course even though it is free, and I recommend it to everyone. Seriously, try it! 

Week 2 was to image transfer a photo of myself as a young child.  Yep, that is and yes, they did have cameras way back then!  Then we wrote some good wishes for ourselves and collaged these on to the page.  This was done in an altered board book rather than in our art journals like the first week.


Week 3 was in the same board book on the next page to make Whimsey characters and collage them into a scene.  Not too happy with this.  I think kitty may be covered up with something else, and I may play around with it some more, but it's done for now.

So, I am up to date for the next lesson which goes up tomorrow.  Not going to have much time to do it though because I am off to another conference with work, this time in Bournemouth, from Tuesday to Thursday. Yuck!  Still, after that things might settle down a bit, and I might even get around to taking some leave, YAY!

Have a good week everyone.

October 28, 2010

It's been a while...

...since I did anything with my art journal.  Actually it's been a while since I made a blog post!  Work has been a bit manic and I have been too tired to do much of anything.  Last weekend I found this amazing free course by the wonderful Tam over on the Willowing ning network, so this is what I have been doing

I am finding the class very cathartic and healing so far.  Maybe that's because I am in the right place for it right now, or maybe it's because it is just a very good class.

Anyway, I like her.  She is meant to represent me, but I still like her anyway, lol.  (what is wrong with Mr Blogger today? It has taken me forever to upload this pic!)

On Saturday I am off to play making Christmas cards with the fearless leader of the WOYWWers,  Julia which is going to be so much fun!  I'm not really a card maker so I am hoping to pick up lots of tips and tricks and have a great time.  I will report back on Sunday!

Happy Friday for tomorrow everyone.

October 13, 2010

WOYWW 13th October

It's Wednesday, which means it's time to hop on over to Julia's Blog, link in and join the fun.
I have to apologise, last Wednesday a work colleague was taken ill and I had to accompany him to the hospital and wait for his wife to show up and take over, so I didn't get around many desks, and those I did I was very late commenting on.
Anyway, since last Wednesday I have continued to work on my display box and here is the progress so far. I carried on spraying shimmer mists and blending on inks until I was happy with the result, then I started on the backgrounds for the niches.  Most of the smaller 2" squares have papers from the Vintage Shabby paper stack, some stamped and others left nekkid.  The larger niches I just inked and stamped plain white cardstock.  I've been adding bits and pieces from my ephemera stash gradually.  The blue taxi is stolen from one of DDs board games.  I was after a silver car from a monopoly set but they didn't have one :(  So I purloined a blue plastic taxi and spruced it up a bit with blue Inca Gold.  The rock with the frog on it in the top left niche is something the kids brought me when they went on a school trip to the Natural History Museum years ago.  The little figures in the bottom left niche were my gran's.  I think they are lead!   The Paper Artsy button badge was given to me at by l!n Brown at Ally Pally.  The rest is just general stuff I had in my stash that I have either purchased or found over time.
I still have a few bits to add and a couple of things to finish off, then it will be time to concentrate on the outside.  It might be finished next Wednesday for a final show and tell :)
Happy Wednesday everyone, looking forward to visiting your desks!

October 06, 2010

WOYWW 6th October

Hello all you WOYWWers - and for those who aren't or who don't know what it is check out Julia's Blog and link yourself in.  It's fun to nose around everyone's workspace and get inspired.

Anywhoo, what is on my workdesk...... lots of stuff!  I'm working on this display box thingy that has sat nekkid and neglected for well over a year - probably nearer two!!  I've given it a coat of gesso (sorry Doone, I had to do it!) and now I'm layering up some grungy inkyness (which is why all the distress inks are scattered around).  The flash has bleached a lot of it out, but there is some colour going on there.  Various shades of grunge (scattered straw, antique linen, brushed corduroy, weathered wood) and a few shimmer mists and various mini-mister concoctions of mica, ink and water.  I'm just spraying, dabbing, wiping and splodging different things and building up the layers so it looks suitably old and grungy and lovely.  Once I feel it's ready I'll start putting some backgrounds in the different niches and some bits of ephemera and various stuff.  There's a pile of stuff I've earmarked for this project just to the right of the desk. 
Oh, you can see I've been playing with my Tim Holtz tattered leaves as well :)
Happy Wednesday everyone.

October 03, 2010

Page 12 of 12

I've finished the final page of my postage stamp/tag book and put it all together with some bits.  Here is page 12 which, to be honest, has sat around for a week.  I used a Crafters Workshop template and antique gold ferro all over the shape, then, when the ferro was dry, spritzed it with some gold and copper cosmic shimmer mists.  I smeared some Inca Gold in Old Gold and Green/yellow on the leaf parts, and then I looked at it for a week wondering what to do with it next before deciding it was fine as it was!  I cut a couple of Tattered Leaves from the Tim Holtz Alteration die and inked and sprayed them to look suitably autumnal, then added some shrink plastic charms and a bead I found that had the right colouring to match in.



Here it is from the front with all the pages fanned out.













And here it is from the back.

It's been fun.... I've got loads of old CDs I might make into a book with the BIA next!

October 02, 2010

Boxing Day

Hi everyone. I've been MIA for most of the week. Busy week at work and a conference to attend.  Anyway, some of you WOYWW may recall a couple of gessoed boxes from a couple of weeks ago.  Well this is how they have turned out.  I am going to put some little things in them for DDs for Christmas.... yes, I used the 'C' word!
This one is for DD2 and had a coat of Transparent Red Oxide acrylic paint over it before having some decopatch paper stuck over the outside and a few images from the same paper on the inside. I then gave the whole thing another watery coat of the Transparent red oxide then did the Krylon pen thing around the edges and the Inca Gold around the lid.


I really love this japanese paper!  Anyway, a coat of glossy decopatch glue (a bit like mod podge or gel medium) and we were done.

The second one for DD1 was done the same way, except the Tranparent Red Oxide looked a bit orange next to the pink so I went over it with Mushroom, and I used some Viva Precious Metal pink instead of the gold krylon.

I'm quite pleased with how they have turned out :)

Hope everyone is having a good weekend (despite the horrible weather).  Anyone been to the Artisan show?  Wish it was a bit nearer to me so I could go, mind you, after the massive spend at Ally Pally it's probably best!

September 25, 2010

Ally Pally...

...was packed!  I arrived at at 9.30am and sat and had a coffee, and the queue was right the way across the palm court entrance hall and round the side corridor!  I have never seen it that busy before.  I waited until the queue had gone down before going in to the hall, and it was heaving.  Usually for the first hour or so you can move around the stands a bit, but not this time.  So much for the recession!  Anyway, spent waaay too much, as usual. Here is my haul .

I stopped by the LB Crafts stall and saw the amazing Julia Roberts lookalike Linda E and the fantastic l!n Brown doing amazing demos (and spent some money).  Linda was talking to Cardarian.  How amazing is that?  WOYWW is everywhere!
Jennie's Tag


I then wandered over to The Artistic Stamper stand and watched Jennie doing some amazing things with the melt pot.  She made a tag which she gave me :)  The leaf shape was die cut from some fab plastic stuff that isn't acetate which she dipped in the UTEE and stamped then heated slightly with a heat tool which made it pliable enough to bend in to shape which is kept when it cooled... amazing or what!! So I had to have some of that, plus some of the new stamps.... I actually love this background stamp here.... should have got that one too.  Guess I'll have to do some online shopping!  I managed to spend over £25 (what a suprise) so I got one of their fab grunge roses too
Jennie's Grunge Rose

Isn't it beautiful.  This one was made by Jennie too.   I bumped in to Alison watching Hels doing make and takes, but the hall was so crowded we didn't get a chance to do much other than wave and say hello!  Later on I did pop back to the stand (and spent some more money) and it was a bit quieter then so I did one of the make and takes

Make & Take with Hels

So not only did I get to shop, but I got inky and messy too! What more could you want?!

Visited quite a few other stands too (Scrap Revolution, Art From The Heart - Dyan looked great and was doing amazing art journal pages - Lavinia Stamps to name but a few).  There was also a Decopatch stand there which I hadn't seen at Ally Pally before, which was useful as I was thinking about using some decopatch papers on a couple of things.

Lin's Tag
I wandered back over to the LB Crafts stand and, while Linda E skived off for a while, poor l!n was left alone demoing her little heart out.  She made me this fabulous creation - isn't it stunning? I also got my mucky paws on one of the Paper Artsy button badges too :) I bumped in to Helen while I was watching the demo and we had a brief chat... she was laden with bags of stash as usual!

I was spent out by this time, and a bit washed out too - got the remains of some nasty throat lurgy hanging around - so I headed off to the bus and made my way home to stroke my new stash :)

Had a great time.  The thing I love most about Ally Pally is the inspiration.  Watching the demos and seeing the samples really gets the ideas buzzing and makes you think of new ways to use your stash.

Off now to stroke my stash some more!



September 22, 2010

WOYWW 22nd Sept

Wednesday again, so time to hop on over to Julia's Blog log in and wander round the desks of the creative blogosphere.
Usual here, bit tidier than normal I think!  Some brilliance inks I've been playing with, and a few shrink plastic charms I have made, plus a couple of boxes for altering that have had a coat of gesso (sorry Doone!) and are now drying..... not sure what the next step is yet, still thinking about that!  Yes, I know the tag on my easel is upside down... it was put there in a hurry in an effort to tidy up a bit for company!

 
So.... what is this that sits behind me at the foot of my bed?  Well, it used to be a toy box when the kids were small and now.........


It has MY toys in it.  Lots of stuff to alter... should keep me busy for a while LOL!

Happy Wednesday everyone.

September 19, 2010

A bit of a make-over

I decided to give my blog a make-over.  I loved the original template but as it was pre-designed it was a bit limiting in what I could do with it.  So I played around for a while, then I found a fabulous site Blogger Sentral which has all kinds of amazing tips and tricks to customize your blog.  After browsing around Blogger Sentral for a while, I realised I wanted an image for my header, so I made a tag.
The more observant among you may realise this is slightly different to the actual header up there.  This is because I stamped the corn advert on to it afterwards!  I coloured a tag with Wild Honey DI which I then splashed with some water to give some interest.  I then played with my Paper Artsy HP1009 plate and stamped the flower head and the birdies in the grass also in wild honey.  I then stamped the flower head again on some card colourd with wild honey and spritzed with gold shimmer mist with Coffee archival.  I then cut out the flowers and layered them on to the tag.  I finished off with some Crafty Individuals birds then photographed it for the blog header.  I then added the Shepard Corn stamp and now I am entering it to the Sunday Stampers challenge week 121.  The theme is movies, so this is Children of the Corn... or maybe The Birds, I'll let Hels decide, lol

September 15, 2010

WOYWW - Flotsam and Jetsam

If you want to know why I am showing my very messy desk, hop on over to our fearless leader Julia's blog to join the WOYWW club.
So, here is the debris left from my crafting.  The strange lady with the giant flower on her head was going to go on my wall hanging thingy from the last post, but I decided against her in the end, so back to the "interesting images and other stuff" box... when I get around to tidying away that is.  Not sure why I have 3 pairs of scissors out, nor what I was planning on doing with the string.  Anway, there's all sorts of stuff laying about, chipboard letters, packets of beads, unmounted rubber stamps waiting to be mounted (yuck! hate that job), paints, glues, tissue tape, a paper stump, a file... it's a bit like the generation game, lol.  There's also a reel of invisible thread at the back there - though you may not be able to see that (ha-ha!).
Happy Wednesday everybody

September 13, 2010

Steampunk?

Not sure what qualifies as steampunk to be honest.  I know what steampunk literature is, but not really clear in terms of artwork.
Anyway, this was inspired by l!n's post here (I know, it doesn't look much like it, but then I'm not in her league!) I loved it, but didn't have any of the materials, so I used a large chip shape I had, and the Tim masks I did have and started from there.  The bird and flowers at the bottom are from some napkins I bought at The Craft Barn on Saturday, the colours matched perfectly so I layered up some images from one of those, and I used some tissue tape at the top... first time I've used that and I am in love!!  Because I had used the timeworks masks, the sprocket gears and game spinners fitted perfectly.  A couple of the images from the Steampunk Debutante stack matched with the colour scheme (and the sprocket gear theme), and the image of the strange woman hugging the tree is from a sheet of vintage images I found in my stash (another drunken shopping spree I guess!)
I'm quite pleased with it, whatever it is anyway.
So... who managed to get their Tim tickets then?

September 12, 2010

Purple Haze

Mr Blogger has not been playing nicely lately!  For the past couple of days he has been telling me "service unavailable" whenever I try to get to my dashboard or when I try to comment on anyone elses blog.  He seems to have let me get to my dashboard today on my third attempt, so maybe this post will appear!
Went to The Craft Barn Extravaganza yesterday and blew lots of dosh (I really shouldn't be let anywhere near stash with money in my purse!).  One of the things I bought was a Spellbinder butterfly die which you can see here.  After watching the demo for Viva Papersoft I had to have some, so got a couple of colours as well as a paper pen and applicators.  I played with those earlier and made this card... yes, another card!
I've also used some Inca Gold on this card, which was another purchase yesterday (got three pots). I wish they would sell it in smaller pots because it goes a long way and there are so many gorgeous colours that it would be easier on the old bank balance if the pots were half the size at least!
I had a list, which I stuck to in so far as I bought what was on the list... but then I made a few impulse purchases as well, including the Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante paper pad... well how could I resist?  I had Hot Pick 1006 on my list, but I got 1009 instead, because I wanted that too and that one was ready mounted whereas the 1006 was only in unmounted and I hate, loathe and detest mounting stamps!
I bumped into Alison watching Beatrice demoing Katzelcraft stamps, and had a lovely chat with Helen over a cup of tea.  Jo Firth Young was demoing the Letterpress and was suprising unjetlagged after her trip to New York. Was a great day, despite the weather, although my bank manager is probably not of the same opinion!
Anyway, the big news of the week/year/century is obviously that Tim Holtz is coming to teach a class in the UK, courtesy of Artsy Crafts.  Big dilema for me.  Apart from the fact that paying for this now is nigh on impossible, although I could find the dosh at a pinch, if I did go to the event in February then that would be it for the year in terms of retreats, so I wouldn't be able to do a full Artsy Crafts weekend as well.  Now, I am in awe of Tim Holtz and his techniques but.... do I sacrifice a full weekend of Lin and Leandra and their amazing team for 4 hours worth of Tim?  Having given it a lot of thought, I had to consider is Tim a better teacher than Lin or Leandra.  In my opinion, not really.  He may be as good, but not better.  Having attended Artsy Crafts events and seen lots of videos and step-by-steps on the web of Tim's techniques, I think Lin and Leandra can do what he does (though maybe not the skiing down mountains, saving the world type stuff that Linda E attributes to him, lol).  I also love his stamps and his projects are amazing but... I also love Leandra's stamps and both Lin and Leandra produce amazing projects too.  At the end of the day, I think Lin and Leandra's stuff has the edge for me.  Again, this is just my opinion and my personal taste, but I prefer the stuff that l!n and THE Leandra Franiche produce over the stuff by Tim ...... don't shoot me!!  So, while I congratulate Lin and Leandra on the amazing coup of getting Tim over here to teach a class, and I am sure lots of crafters here in the UK thank them from the bottom of their hearts, I am going to save my pennies for the amazing Artsy Crafts weekend in May and pass on Sir Tim of Holtz.... which I am sure won't have the slightest impact on him, lol, and I hope everyone who manages to get a ticket  to the February events has an amazing time (I'm sure you will). I, on the other hand, will look forward to an equally amazing time in May :)  Good luck for everyone at 8pm tomorrow when the tickets go up for grabs!!

September 08, 2010

It's Wednesday

so it's time for WOYWW.  For the uninitiated, get over to Julia's Blog and join in the weekly blog hop around the craft desks of the universe!

I managed to miss last Wednesday... I think the whole week went missing somewhere!  Anyway, here is my very messy desk this week
Lots of assorted bits and bobs, and a page I am working on from my postage stamp "tag" book.  I only have one more to do after this.. woohoo!

Nothing else to report here.  Long and horrible week at work (and we're only at the half way post!), my herniated disk is giving me hell, but on the bright side I am looking forward to the Craft Barn Extravaganza on the weekend :)

Hope all you WOYWWers are well.  Happy Wednesday everyone.

September 05, 2010

Unfinished Symphony

My mojo has been away on holiday for a couple of weeks :( 
This morning I was browsing around loooking for inspiration and over on Hels Blog the Sunday Stamper's challenge this week is "everything".
Well, I am the proud owner of a whole two (count them, an entire two, not just one, but two) sets of Studio 490 stamps. 
Now I could have bought one of the actual acrylic binder thingies to keep them in, but I thought I would save my pennies to hopefully increase my collection.  Instead, I decided to go for my fave material for such things... an empty cereal packet, lol. I cut the card to the same shape as the stamp backing and gave it a coat of gesso.  Once the gesso was dry I set to giving the whole thing a grungy, art journaly sort of background with some spray inks, sequin waste, acrylic paint and stampd the background from Art-fully Said.  The background still needed something, so I used some of t!m's stamps along the bottom.  I then turned to my other set  - Make Mine Mini Art, and stamped some of the flowers and the butterfly onto grungeboard and DIed them, then stamped some of the sentiments from Art-fully Said.  The rather large empty space at the top will be filled with more Wendy Vecchi art when I get my mucky paws on more of her stamp sets.
So this now hangs on my rail above my desk with my whole two Studio 490 sets inside. 
Ok, so it's not quite finished, and won't be until I get more Studio 490 stamps, but in the meantime it is my entry for the Sunday Stamper's Challenge as it uses everything Wendy Vecchi that I own.